SEKULOW

Logan Sekulow: Welcome to Sekulow. This is Logan Sekulow. Will Haynes is in the studio. Rick Grenell will be joining us just a little bit later. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-3110. I am happy to report that this is a victory for our clients to continue ministering. You may remember this situation that was happening out of Colorado. We've fought hard for it. Our team has been working tirelessly.

Again, you may see these efforts and go, "What is the ACLJ doing on the ground?" You hear these big cases we take on, the Supreme Court of the United States. You hear about all the work that we're doing internationally, whether that's in Europe, in Pakistan, or anywhere in the world that the ACLJ is needed, including ACLJ Jerusalem. But sometimes it's in your own backyard, and sometimes it's in your own public park.

This is what happens when the ACLJ gets involved. Sometimes it takes time, but we have what it could be a landmark agreement in our case that was happening in Colorado. Again, a massive settlement. This is a win for homeless ministries, ministries that reach the homeless community or reach people who are in need. Maybe there is some misunderstanding of what the law could be. Maybe we could back it up a little bit. Well, give people, if they don't know, the background on this. But I'm just pumped that we were able to come out here today on this show and make this announcement.

Will Haynes: That's right. Remember, we told you about this group of pastors from local churches that would have gatherings where they had worship and ministry to outreach to those that were in need. It happened in a public park in Northglenn, Colorado. They had been doing this since 2020. Then in 2025, just last year, they passed an ordinance that made it illegal for groups of more than five to recurringly use the park.

What happened? The pastors and members of these churches were criminally cited for continuing this ministry in a public park. Now, we quickly jumped into action, one to defend them from these criminal citations, but also filing a federal lawsuit. We went after multiple sections of this ordinance, showing how it was not a constitutional ordinance.

What happened? Two months later, they dropped the criminal charges against our clients after we filed this federal lawsuit. Now we are pleased to announce that as we neared the discovery phase of this lawsuit, we came to an agreement, a settlement with the city of Northglenn, Colorado. It is a victory for our clients, allowing them to continue their ministry in this public park without fear of criminal citation.

As well, the city was able to, one, repeal the ordinance that was bad law, that we thought was bad law, that would target the churches, and replace it with something that still gives the city the authority and the appropriate measures to keep people safe in their public parks, as is the city's responsibility, but doesn't discriminate against our clients and allows them to continue this much-needed ministry. We are so thankful for the hard work of our attorneys that went into this to get this across the finish line. We are pleased to announce that last night, the city council was able to move forward after their second reading on that measure that we came together with the city to craft.

Logan Sekulow: In general, this is a done deal. This is exciting. You should be excited when work like this gets done, even in states like Colorado, which you may think may be less friendly. Then you have moments where we can use the power of the ACLJ. It's really all of you getting together and, of course, the hand of God at the same time to go into these places and make a real difference.

That's why I encourage you to always support the work of the ACLJ if you can. That's, of course, at aclj.org. We are getting some reports, a lot of comments coming in on our YouTube channel saying that you did not receive any sort of notification that we are live, and most of you manually did. So, I'm going to ask, if you're one of those people, let us know in the chat. But also hit the thumbs up, throw in a comment, get engaged here, hype points, do something here to make sure that we get back into people's feeds because these are big moments. They may not be the biggest breaking news of the day, but you know what? It should be for you because these are the things that are important to make sure we're standing up for nationwide. We'll be right back.

Guest (Male): The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. We have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. If you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. aclj.org.

Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight Big Tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action. Make a difference. Support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know. Breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed. Stay empowered. Download today.

Logan Sekulow: We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand-new app, completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's App Store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.

Just saw a bit of a flashback if you're watching online, which, by the way, you should be watching online. It's a great place and way to interact with the show. There's a great chat feature if you're on YouTube or on Rumble. You can get involved that way. But also you get to see us, which is always nice. During the commercial breaks, you get special video presentations our team put together. We just flashed back to earlier this year with one of our lawyers, Garrett Taylor, who led this. You can actually read what he wrote on our website right now. If you go to aclj.org, you can see the article about this case.

So you can go to that and really get more of a deep dive on the history of this case. Again, it's been a little over a year of working. We've been talking about it for nearly a year. The ACLJ again stood alongside these pastors and church members to make sure that they were able to still practice not just, again, having a church service or something like that. This was an outreach to people in need that was being shut down.

The city saying, "You can do a lot of things in the public park. Helping people? No, that's not one of them." But the ACLJ was able to work hard and work with them, by the way, to get what is really a victory for our clients to continue this ministry to people who are in need, and specifically to people who are homeless and really could use the support of the church. It's what the church is called to do.

Now that we were headed towards discovery in the lawsuit phase, we were able to create a settlement and work together. Our ACLJ lawyers and this team really developed a collaborative effort to make sure that this newly proposed language protects everyone. It's really, again, a big moment. It took months of our team working hard on this. Again, what this does is, of course, it affects the local community there in Colorado, but it also starts building precedent for what we can take around the country if needed.

Will Haynes: Well, and once again, I want to point this out because of the hard work of our team. The criminal citations that were issued to pastors and church members that were using the park for their ministry, they were issued on September 18th of 2025. We were able to receive the client, fight back, get the criminal charges dropped, as well as file a federal lawsuit and get a settlement in less than a year.

That, for the speed of things, is remarkable because going through the court system, as you all know if you watch this broadcast, takes a long time sometimes. So just even that, three days shy of a year and we're talking about the repealing of the ordinance that happened last night and replacement with something new. That is remarkably quick because also, we mentioned we were able to come to this settlement, there was positive outreach from the city as we neared this discovery phase.

We had multiple potential resolutions in conferences and then developed this collaborative effort among the parties that crafted this new proposed ordinance that would replace the old one. This, going into the discovery phase, takes a lot of man-hours. It takes a lot of interviews, depositions, as well as documents going through all of that. That was about to be a big chunk of even our attorneys' time moving forward towards the end of this year as this lawsuit progressed.

So not only are we able to get this for our clients and everyone is happy in Colorado, as they are able to continue their ministry, as well as the city is able to still have restrictions that they deem to be safety for the parties. But we pointed out in our lawsuit, Logan, that the old ordinance was not broad for the safety of everyone. It was specifically targeting those in the way it was being applied that were religious groups and doing ministry work.

Logan Sekulow: That's right. Ministry work, that was what was being targeted. Remember, I need to clarify. We're here celebrating this, but this may be happening in your hometown. It may be happening to you. Remember that the ACLJ team is there for you at no cost. Remember, no bill was ever sent to these pastors or to this church. That's not how this works here.

Thankfully, people like you support the work of the ACLJ. Because you do that, we're able to represent all of these amazing clients that need our help for absolutely no cost. By the way, those clients one day may be you. It may be you right now, and you may be watching this going, "I think this is happening to me." Maybe you thought you were helpless or hopeless and you didn't think it was worthwhile.

Well, you know what? There's a real easy way. You just go to aclj.org/help, fill out a simple survey, a couple of quick questions. If it's within the scope of the work here at the ACLJ, religious freedom matters, of course, constitutional crises that may be occurring, we'll jump into action. We get our team of lawyers on it immediately. You get attached to a lawyer pretty much immediately and told whether or not this is something the ACLJ can do.

If it is, we jump into action. The legal system moves slow. This is one of the faster ones, and it was nearly a year. So you've got to remember that. So if you feel like this is happening to you, don't wait. Jump in now, call ACLJ, or get involved ACLJ, even by going to aclj.org/help and be a part of this big movement that is happening.

We can get things done. We can get things done that, again, you may go, "This is small potatoes." This is looking at what's happening here in Colorado. This is a public park in Colorado in this one community. Who cares? Who cares? Obviously, the people of this community, who they are ministering to, people that need food, people that need support, people that are struggling, people that need Jesus. Who does it also affect? Obviously, the pastors, the churches, the people who run the ministry.

Inevitably, the wake goes beyond them and it gets to you. Somewhere in this country, this is happening somewhere else, and we need to know about it. That's why the ACLJ team is continually fighting for this. It was nearly a year of fighting for these Colorado churches, again, cited for so many different things, including just worshiping in the park. But we have new language. The ACLJ team was able to work, and that's also the truth here too.

You know what would be a lot better for a lot of organizations like ours? Say, "We're not going to settle. We're going to take this thing all the way. We're going to battle it out in the court system. We're going to make sure that we squeeze every second out of this." But that is not what our team does here. We go for the win. We go for what's the victory for the client. That may take two days, it may take two years, it may take 20 years.

But we're not going to do this because the organization decides, "Oh, we think it's better for us in fundraising to stretch this out over years and years and years." There are cases that go years and years. Trust me, I would much rather have our team be able to move on. Thankfully, we're able to find some common sense with some people here in Colorado, work with them, and rework this language to make sure that our clients are represented fairly.

Will Haynes: That's right, and that's exactly what you see here. When you look at the lawsuit, and I encourage everyone to go read on aclj.org, Garrett Taylor, who really did a great job on this, was able to work with the city and able to come to this agreement. But as we said, it's up at aclj.org. It has a lot of other information which actually can help as you were talking about other people that may be in situations like this.

When they read the things about this ordinance we challenged in the lawsuit on vagueness and overbreadth, not narrowly tailored religious targeting, viewpoint discrimination, when you read the descriptions of that, you may think, "Oh, that's exactly what I've seen happening in my own town with this ordinance or with my church group." This isn't a novel thing that happened here in Colorado. This is something that city councils and local governments do across the country.

You have to challenge it when it is discriminating against one group. That's what we challenged here. As you mentioned, he was able to then work with the city council not only to repeal that ordinance that was bad law, that was affecting our client, but also to make something stronger for everyone. So that's where they've passed a new ordinance that is able to govern the city parks, the usage of city parks, so it doesn't completely hamstring the city to be able to protect its citizens. But it also isn't targeting the church members that are using the public facilities that anyone has access to to conduct their ministry.

It's a very important balance that you see around the country. But when the government decides we're sending police officers, we're going to criminally cite people for their involvement in ministry, that's when it goes too far. Sometimes it may even be that the ordinance never had that intended effect. It wasn't like you had members of city council sitting around thinking, "We're really going to get those church groups." But then that's how in impracticality it plays out with the police and the way it's enforced.

We can work together sometimes, and that's what you saw here in Colorado. I do think it is important once again to talk about it. This was done in under a year. We really started the representation back in February. It also takes people that realize my rights are being violated to contact a group like the ACLJ. Sometimes, as you say, it's easier for a church to be like, "We'll just go to a different place. It's not worth it."

Logan Sekulow: Sometimes we need a wake-up call, and hopefully this show can be one of those for you today. I encourage you, if you feel so moved to support the work of the ACLJ, it's a great time to do it. Go to aclj.org right now and, if you can, make a donation. I'll just earmark today as those of you who are reaching out specifically because of people like this, when these victories for our clients can happen.

A lot of times they tell me, the fundraising group we work with, our team here that does a lot of that, they go, "Logan, sometimes victories, sometimes successes, they don't always move the needle, if you will." I always say we've got to celebrate. We've got to celebrate when the ACLJ does incredible work. So celebrate with us today. If you can support, support financially. If you just want to call in, say a thanks or a prayer to our team, to these churches, I see former members of these churches in the chat. Give me a call at 1-800-684-3110. I'll take calls in the next segment. We're also going to give you a little bit of the news of the day of what's going on around the world. But I had to start off with this great news. We'll be right back.

Guest (Male): Welcome to the all-new ACLJ app. Expert analysis and insight Big Tech can't censor. Customize your news and get real-time alerts on the issues you care about. Advocacy is now at your fingertips. Take action. Make a difference. Support the causes you care about with just one tap. Be the first to know. Breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox. Everything you need, all in one place. Stay informed. Stay empowered. Download today.

We are so excited to announce the ACLJ's brand-new app, completely redesigned to provide you with the best tools available to partner with us at the ACLJ. You can watch the daily Sekulow program, sign the petitions, customize your ACLJ membership experience, donate with the click of a button, and receive up-to-the-minute critical updates that the mainstream media can't censor. Just scan the QR code on your screen or go to your phone's App Store, search ACLJ, and click install. It's that simple.

The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, and our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. We have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedom. That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. If you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. aclj.org.

Logan Sekulow: Before we get to some of the news of the day that we want to hit you with, there's also another victory the ACLJ team was able to secure, and this is one that happens worldwide. I wanted to hit the domestic front first because I think that those connect with you on a personal level. Maybe you've been involved in one of these ministries to these communities that are in need in your local area. You can feel it, you can connect with it.

Sometimes we take things overseas, and I'll be honest that I feel like some of it gets, if you want to say, "lost in translation" because it's hard to imagine what the world is like for Christians in different nations that don't respect your religious beliefs or religious freedom like we do here in America. But now I want the ACLJ world to go a little bit beyond what we do here in this country, because we have another success to report.

Will Haynes: That's right. When you look at these cases, sometimes it seems almost hopeless, but we fight very hard and we get results in places even like Pakistan. This is the case of a now-19-year-old Christian in Pakistan, Zubair Masih. When Zubair was arrested, he was 17 years old. He and four other Christians around his age were arrested in September of 2024.

They used these blasphemy laws that Pakistan has on the books still, and they used them to persecute Christians, local places especially. Their crime was publicly sharing their faith in Pakistan. According to the police complaint, one bystander filed with the police that they were offended because a young woman in the group, so not even our client, used a loudspeaker to preach that salvation comes only through Christ. So, the core tenet of the Gospel.

That was an offensive message to the individual that reported it, and they also said it hurt the religious feelings of other Muslims nearby. We represented this individual and are pleased to announce today, and I got this very early in the morning, that our client Zubair Masih and the other four co-defendants were all acquitted in that blasphemy charge today. At the hearing, our team briefed the new judge. There was a new judge on this case. This judge acquitted everyone, including the defendants that weren't our client.

Our team was able to get victory not just for our client that we've been representing, but all the others as well. Because at the end of the day, we will fight for religious liberty all around the world. We know that in places like Pakistan, it can be hard. But if we are there and we are on the ground and we are fighting, we can get victories like this.

The judge, Muhammad Nasralla, I don't believe was siding with the individuals because he's a Christian himself. It is because our team was able to present the facts and the law and get them acquitted of these laws that shouldn't exist. Blasphemy laws should not exist. We still have other clients that we are fighting hard for as well. Some are on death row for very similar type charges. These were not facing the death penalty, fortunately, but we were able to get them acquitted completely. That is such a wonderful victory to share today.

Logan Sekulow: These are the real issues that are happening around the world, and this is why our team is so important. We're able to get lost sometimes in the news of the day here in the United States of America, and sometimes it feels trivial. But again, I come to you with these victories that our team is able to produce because of the hand of God and because of people like you.

Again, I'll be honest, and I'm not just saying this by the way, I could probably show you an endless supply of calls and emails and meetings where the fundraising committee we work with here will tell you that our audience doesn't seem to respond when we tell you about these victories. I want you today to prove them wrong.

I encourage you to go to aclj.org and make a donation of any kind. It could be five dollars. I don't care. I want to see the number of donations skyrocket today because of this victory. So maybe you already gave your $75, whatever it may be. Maybe you're already an ACLJ Champion who gives. It could be five bucks just so I can go back and say, "Listen, our viewers, our supporters, they care about these victories. They want to know about them. They want to be updated on them because I love sharing them with you."

It's the fun part of the job, if you will. We can get caught up in the deep and the dark and the disturbing. Look, plenty of days for that. It's not like we're living in a world where that doesn't happen every day. But there are some times where we can take a moment, praise God, and say thank you for what we've been able to accomplish here at the ACLJ. That's what we've done the last 25 minutes of this show.

We've just given you two senses of what could be, quote-unquote, "victories." Really, it's funny to even say that because it's things that never should have happened in the first place. A Christian mission, essentially, being shut down from helping people in need in their community, feeding people who are homeless, all of these kinds of things. Then in Pakistan, someone who's just talking about their faith, witnessing.

Again, we have to put in perspective what religious persecution is worldwide and how it is different than what it is in America. In America, you may have a ministry shut down, and we're able to actually come up with a settlement, work with the city to figure that out, work with the county to figure this out, or a state or a government. There's some rationale here. In these situations in Pakistan or over the world, you may not be able to get there. But thankfully, this time, we were.

Will Haynes: And once again, why is it important when you give to the ACLJ to continue these fights? Because the fights aren't over in Pakistan. This is a great victory to celebrate, but we have many other clients that still are on, some on death row because of the very same charges, the very same laws that are on the books there.

We have to take that lawfare fight because that's what they're using. They're using the law to persecute Christians in Pakistan. We have to take the fight there to make sure that it doesn't keep coming and encroaching here at home. We fight for those at home. These are both equally great victories for people.

The persecution that we see in the United States, thankfully, is not at the level of putting you in prison or on death row for sharing your faith yet. But when you start to see what's happening in Europe, where they're not calling it blasphemy laws, because they're not a state religion there that's saying you're offending our religion, but they are going after free speech in the UK, in France, in many of these places that are Western, that believe in the freedom of speech and religion on paper.

If you don't fight where it's happening, where it's so blatant blasphemy laws, when they start targeting your speech or your beliefs in Western countries, friendly countries, it creeps over the ocean back home. So we can't just let a city ordinance stand if it violates the Constitution and the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, just like we can't let a blasphemy law in Pakistan stand because it is unjust and violates humanity. So we are going to go, whether it's Pakistan or here, and continue that fight.

Logan Sekulow: Around the world, the ACLJ continues on. Now, listen, in the next half hour, we do have a show, by the way, that continues on for the next half hour, and we do have phone lines open. I know you've been listening very closely, you've been watching very intently. But I want to hear from you. I know we haven't really given you an option to call in today very much because I haven't really posed this.

But we are going to address the Supreme Court of the United States. They have made their decision on the mail-in balloting situation. Some of you may not be too thrilled. We're going to continue that conversation in the next half hour. Give me a call if you want to talk about it: 1-800-684-3110. Rick Grenell's going to be joining us.

But again, we have a second half-hour of the show. I want you to be a part of that second half-hour. Find us broadcasting live on aclj.org, Facebook, YouTube, Rumble. We're there live, 12:00 to 1:00 PM Eastern Time each and every day. Of course, archived on however you get your podcast immediately following the show. We'll be right back. Second half-hour coming up, and this is our shortest break. So give me a call. Less than a minute. We'll be right back.

Guest (Male): For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedom, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. If you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at aclj.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. aclj.org.