Choose Life Australia

 
Filed on 30 August 2017 in Food For Thought Speeches category. Print This Page

Evangelism vs battle of our time

A false dichotomy as our Christian witness involves both. We are constantly at war.

If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.  Martin Luther.

Yes, we must not be deflected from our primary task – the great commission – but as Confessing Christians and as the Confessing Church we must also respond to the devil’s attacks.

And the battles of our time are very, very deep in their significance of warfare in Deep Heaven.

Firstly, by the outright rebellion against and direct attack on God’s Creation order of masculinity and femininity and the institution of marriage. This was first evident with the attack on God’s institution of marriage but has now focussed on the very meanings of male and female.

Secondly, by the attack – relatively new for our generation in our part of Western civilisation – directly on the church itself, the Body of Christ. To silence it, to divide it, to destroy our freedom to teach our children about our Christian faith. Yes, we’ve been here before with Communism and German fascism but not in our time and not in the “free” West.

So, in our evangelism we tell the story of God, of Creation, of man being created in the Image of God, of His perfect creation in all of its magnificence, of male and female, and of how we rebelled. And that Jesus as the perfect Son of God would lower Himself to become man and would die in our place.

It is God’s Story and we must tell it in its fullness.

As God’s people we must proclaim it and extol His Name for His glory and honour. There is no division of our task. Telling The Story is both reaching out to seek to draw others into His Kingdom and is also telling of the honour and glory of God.

Lachlan Dunjey 30 August 2017.

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PS I was searching for a John Yates quote and found it (highlighted) in the commentary below written in 2012.

http://www.chooselifeaustralia.org.au/life/why-the-battle-for-marriage-is-so-significant/

Why the battle for marriage is so significant.

What is it that we are up against? A recap and why the battle for marriage is so significant.

Humanity’s greatest crisis is the rebellion against what it means to be created in the Image of God, a rejection of who God is and what it means to be human.

Society’s greatest risk is the threat to marriage and family, the move to re-define male and female and thus ultimately destroy the fabric of society.

And the third great risk is to freedom of belief and to speak of what we believe – to even speak or show the truth re abortion or marriage or even quote scripture – and includes freedom of religion and liberty of conscience.

These three core elements are the basis of the Manhattan Declaration, the Westminster  Declaration and the Canberra Declaration.

And they are the basis of the new Breaking the Spiral of Silence at Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty.

Medicine is in the frontline of these battles:

• The push for legalised abortion with no restriction on time, method or reason
• Routine pre-natal diagnosis with implied embryo selection or abortion of the defective (even compulsory)
• Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide – unrestricted even for the non-dying (even compulsory)
• Re-defining the doctor-patient relationship to providers of medical services on consumer demand
• Overriding of doctor’s liberty of conscience with compulsory participation e.g. in abortion referral
• The selective repression of truly informed consent especially the abortion links with breast cancer and post-abortion syndrome
• Destructive embryo research; cloning; mixing of animal and human genes
• Definition of death particularly with reference to organ transplantation
• The health implications of re-defining marriage with respect to the effect on children, the destruction of the traditional family with a mother and a father, and restriction of freedom to bring up our children with our values
• The threats to freedom of expression in writing and speaking what we consider to be logic and truth especially with respect to medical aspects of marriage and family, sexuality and abortion. Threats include hate mail and personal accusation – even black-listing of doctors on Facebook

Doctors4Family has made submissions to the Senate (sub 229) and House of Reps on the medical aspects and implications of changing the Marriage Act to include homosexual couples and since publication of this on the Senate website we have been subject to written abuse from people pushing for change.

Why the battle for marriage is so significant.

Dear friends, the battle we face is enormous.

Items 1-10 above give the opportunity for reasoned debate even though definitions are changed in Alice-in-Wonderland style and when debate fails emotional blackmail comes to the fore (diabetic children in wheelchairs) and a degree of personal derogatory labelling (“you’re just religious”). When it is seen that there is no counter to rational argument we are just ignored by those with pre-set agendas (remember, that is why MPs with pre-set agendas must be voted out).

But all this pales compared with the bitter, abusive attacks from the homosexual lobby and threats of discrimination against anyone with the temerity to defend the age-hallowed tradition of marriage as exclusively between man and woman and children should have mothers and fathers.

Please note that we are not “anti-gay” in our defence of marriage. It is the very essence of marriage that is being attacked – to broaden its scope and strip it of its intrinsic significance. There are also those who want to broaden the scope to multiple spouses and also take out the fidelity provision “to the exclusion of all others”.

The consequences of this attack are so serious in terms of threats to freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to bring up our children with our own values (and not be subject to “diversity/sensitivity re-training”), and also ultimately democratic rule. The push for same-sex marriage – for ultimate approval and acceptance of homosexuality as the norm – is ultimately a rebellion against what it means to be made in the Image of God and His plan in creation and procreation and to silence with all the weight of the law any voices raised in protest – and to label such voices as lacking sensitivity, as hate speech, as being vilifying and discriminatory.

For Christians it will mean that we will have to accept our children being subject to education of the homosexual lifestyle, being encouraged at a young age to declare their sexuality, diversity education re families and with no right of objection. Home schooling will have to incorporate such instruction and children will be tested to ensure that they have “learned”. Christian organisations will no longer have exemption from anti-discrimination measures. Any attempt to use scripture to argue our position will be labelled as intolerance and vilification.

Please do not dismiss these warnings as scare-mongering. Should we be surprised? No, as Jesus said on the way to Calvary “if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?” Should we be in despair? No, because He also said “when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Luke 21:28).

Why is the attack so bitter?

There are (sadly) many Christians who genuinely and “lovingly” support the push for same-sex marriage. But they fail to see the consequences for society and in particular for Christian freedom. That is because they don’t understand the fundamental rebellion and spiritual battle that is intrinsic to this – and of which most “gay” people have little idea.

John Yates puts it so well “the oppositional but complementary nature of heterosexual gender identity is written into the very framework of the order of the universe and the peak of the Creator’s genius. The challenge is far more profound than most Christians realise. This is a claim (for same-sex marriage) that God did not create His Image as male + female, it is an attack on the very existence and nature of God. The spiritual warfare around this issue is very intense.”

So, my friends, please carry the burden in prayer. Please pray for those who have made submissions and who will be appearing before the Senate committee hearings. And for me – I will be appearing before the Melbourne hearings this coming Friday 4 May to argue for case for Doctors for the Family.

Lachlan Dunjey. 29 April 2012.

PS subsequently I was condemned in Eastern States newspapers and also reported to Medical Board of Australia which fairly quickly decided to take no action on the complaint.

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