Halfway to forever by Karen Kingsbury

counting down the days until her brain surgery, Matt had more righteous fire stirring within him than at any
time in the past few years.
Because their side had filed the suit, Matt presented his arguments first. He stood and made his way
toward the jurors, meeting each of their gazes with a warmth usually reserved for church friends and
business associates. "Good morning," he said, nodding in their direction. "Thank you for being here today,
for believing that in this courtroom over the next few days there might be something more important
happening than your routine schedules. Something in which each of you obviously believes."
Matt glanced at the notepad in his hands and his confidence grew, Tanner had to be praying for him; the
words coming from his mouth sounded so much like Tanner it was uncanny.
Thank You, God; give me the words...
Be strong and bold, for I am with you.
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K A R E N K I N G S B U R Y
The answer resonated in his soul and came straight from the Scripture he'd read that morning. A sense of
peace and sureness filled his senses as he began explaining his case for the jury in clear and passionate
detail.
He told them that the First Amendment to the Constitution
involved a safeguard for people like Pastor Casey Carson. "People
whom the founders of this great nation wanted to protect." Matt
stopped, slid his left hand into his pants pocket and moved his
gaze from one juror to the next. "Do you know why? Because they
were familiar with religious persecution. It was something that
troubled them enough to leave the comforts of England, their
homeland, and venture into a new world, a new life."
Matt's tone grew stronger. "No one would tell them whom to worship and how No, in America a person
would be free to worship as they chose, and the government-no matter how many generations would passwould
never, ever establish a law prohibiting the freedom of religion."
Out of the comer of his eye, Matt saw the attorneys for the
City of Benson conferring in silent whispers. Tanner was right!
They were surprised by this argument. No doubt they had
planned to take the very same approach, accusing Pastor Carson
and the First Church of the Valley of crossing the line that separated
church and state by daring to preach the name of Christ in
a public building.
But now, just minutes into the trial's first day, partway through
Matt's opening arguments, there was a current of electricity running
through the courtroom that Matt was sure everyone could
feel. The church hadn't crossed a line, the Benson City Council
had.
Matt took three sure steps over to the plaintiffs table and
pulled the lease agreement from a file. When he was back in front
of the jury, he held it up. "I hold a lease agreement written and
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reed upon by the Benson City Council." He paused and paced few steps. "Now keep in mind, when the
founders of the
onstitution referred to Congress, they meant any public governTherefore the First Amendment applies to
the Benson g body. ,