Why was it that Herod hated John the Baptist so much that he put him in prison and then allowed him to be beheaded? Herod hated him because he told the truth and condemned Herod.
Why was it that the Pharisees and priests hated Jesus so much that they wanted him killed? They hated him because he told the truth and condemned them for their hypocrisy as white-washed sepulchres.
There always was and always will be a spiritual battle going on until Christ comes. For now, in Australia, it seems to be more intense and I have sought to illustrate this intensity today. We have highlighted attitudes: being awake, to have an appropriate and continung sense of grief – mixed with joy, how to vote, and to be desperate in our personal relationship with God. Finally, with a call to be involved in this battle through prayer and to be prepared for the attacks that inevitably follow.
2020 Vision: How then shall we live in 2012?
Where might we be in the year 2020 and how then shall we live now?
There will be tolerance of all things except Christian belief. There will be total silencing of any Christian expression or opinion which is all regarded as intolerance, hate speech and bigotry. In certain instances we will be forced to choose between our careers and our convictions. We will not even be able to voice our protest that we protest and do not have a voice.
When moral values decline and we have nothing to say.
Excerpt from Breakpoint http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/18531
Anderson shared with his students a gruesome photo of Bibi Aisha, a teenage wife who had her nose and ears cut off. The students “became confused . . . afraid to make any moral judgment at all. They were unwilling to criticize…
Amendment rejection: “victory for women” Emily’s List.
Amendment acceptance: “victory for women” in Arizona.
It is hard to understand the opposition of Emily’s List women to the proposed amendments. They all made sense. Surely one would want to anaesthetize a late-term baby about to have its brain sucked out by a partial birth abortion. Surely for a 14 year-old schoolgirl one would want to look at the possibility of abuse and the reporting of same. Such opposition I think will be thought very strange in years to come.
In line with other ethical and moral legal permissions that become compulsions there are consequences to losing this battle in that we are then compelled to go along with the lies that have become enshrined in law. Our freedom to speak truth to society and to our children is at risk and will be interpreted as vilification and intolerance.
…the devaluation of human life, the blurring of what it means to be human is humanity’s greatest crisis.
“The attempted manipulation of life and death is the most significant issue of our time. When does human life begin and when does it have value? What does it mean to be human? The answer to this is critical to our thinking with respect to abortion, destructive embryo research, cloning, eugenics and euthanasia.”
Infringement of conscience is a serious challenge facing modern medicine. Medical codes of conduct must never be subject to degradation by government. Governments may legislate to permit certain practices or procedures but governments must never force doctors to violate their conscience by compulsory engagement in such practices or procedures.”
Humanity’s greatest crisis, medicine’s greatest challenge, society’s greatest risk – our future is under attack in three critical areas with interlocking themes of risks to freedom of speech, belief and conscience, the manipulation of life and death, and the re-shaping of Australian society by minority group pressure.
• Does it matter that governments legislate for evil?
• Does it matter if governments compel evil?
• Are these matters “defining issues” as to how I should vote for politicians or parties that have supported these matters? (And, if not, then what is a defining issue?)
• Is there a role for this church and for the body of Christ as a whole?
• Will these matters make a difference in my ordinary way of life? Will they make any difference as to how I spend my spare time?
• Will they make a difference as to my future directions, even occupation?
