August 2007 - Journal Summary

Articles, news and information in the August 2007 journal.

The full editorial is at the bottom of the page.

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Editorial (in full below) “A Christian once said to me “I can see that you’re Old Testament and I’m New Testament so we are not going to agree”. I discovered later that there were certain family reasons why he wanted to dismiss the Old Testament and overlook some verses of the New. On the radio I heard a lesbian who claimed to be a Christian suggest that not all the Bible is relevant and true. When asked what parts of the Bible we can accept as relevant today, she said, ‘there is one theme that runs consistently through the whole Bible, and that is love; so all that matters is love. As long as it is about love it is all right. We love each other, so it must be acceptable to God.’….”

The Intolerance of Tolerance
Greg Koukl looks at the ‘tolerance trick’ and cautions us against falling for it. He recommends that we be egalitarian regarding persons and elitist regarding ideas.

News and Action
RU 486; Implanon; WA: Human Rights Bill; Cloning and stem cell research

HREOC Report: Same Sex Entitlements
The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has released a 446 page report called ‘Same-Sex - Same Entitlements’. It identified 58 federal laws that they claim discriminate against same-sex couples.

Victoria: ART & Adoption for homosexuals
Last month we reported that the Victorian Law Reform Commission had released its report on “Assisted Reproductive Technology and Adoption”. The report recommended that the government legislated to allow ART for lesbians and single women.

Election Focus
With the federal election due at the end of the year, both political parties are already putting out policy proposals. We need to be monitoring party positions and the character of the candidates in the next few months and praying about how God wants us to vote.

How can I find time?
Jenny Stokes looks at ways of staying informed and active as a Christian.

Victoria: Decriminalisation of Abortion
The decriminalisation of abortion in Victoria has moved a step closer, with Labor MP Candy Broad introducing a Private Member’s Bill into the Victorian Legislative Council on 17 July, 2007.

Pornography: Where does it all begin?
Peter Stokes examines the issue of pornography in relation to Aboriginal communities, as well as the seemingly innocuous path one may travel on to eventually becoming addicted.

Euthanasia: Nitschke
Euthanasia campaigner Philip Nitschke is helping people to import Nembutal, a drug used by people wanting to kill themselves by euthanasia. Nembutal is legally available to veterinarians in Australia and New Zealand to euthanise animals but banned for humans. [SMH, 18/6/2007]

Alcohol: Pregnancy and Youth
Research in the US has shown links between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and birth defects. There is now a recognised medical condition called fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Drugs and Alcohol
The latest research shows that students who use cannabis and alcohol in their teens are much more likely to use hard drugs - including ice and amphetamines - in their twenties. [The Age, 18/7/2007]

Book Review: The Criminalisation of Christianity
Bill Muehlenberg reviews Janet Folger’s book that looks at the real stories around the world (focusing on the West) of persecution and the gradual process of our faith being criminalised.

God loves us so he doesn’t tolerate evil: tolerance is the problem
Ted Baehr, President of MOVIEGUIDE, recently wrote... “God loves us and He does not tolerate evil. If you love your children, you will not tolerate them skipping school, avoiding homework, being messy, fighting, lying, cheating, being self-destructive, etc.

Muslims or athiests leading a Christian group
The Exeter University Christian Union (CU) constitution says membership is restricted to Christians. However, their meetings are open to everyone - of all faiths and none. Seems reasonable? The University Student Guild did not think so and froze the CU’s bank accounts and stopped them holding meetings!

World News
USA: Christian group ‘re-instated’; UK: Bishop loses case; Cloning; Euthanasia: Kevorkian released; Germany: Abortion & holocaust; USA: Civil Union; UN: defamation of religions.

Editorial (full version)

A Christian once said to me “I can see that you’re Old Testament and I’m New Testament so we are not going to agree”. I discovered later that there were certain family reasons why he wanted to dismiss the Old Testament and overlook some verses of the New.

On the radio I heard a lesbian who claimed to be a Christian suggest that not all the Bible is relevant and true. When asked what parts of the Bible we can accept as relevant today, she said, ‘there is one theme that runs consistently through the whole Bible, and that is love; so all that matters is love. As long as it is about love it is all right. We love each other, so it must be acceptable to God.’ She was, of course, referring to her relationship with her same-sex ‘partner’.

Such revisionist statements are not rare or new. We were reminded recently while viewing Focus on the Family’s new ‘Truth Project’ that satan tried it successfully when he said to Eve in the garden of Eden, “Did God really say…?” He tried the same strategy with Jesus in the desert, but then, of course, that was unsuccessful.

As we mentioned last month, he is still using this tactic today. He wants to persuade us that God’s Word is not infallible and that we can reinterpret it to suit the times or the culture. Dismissing parts of the Bible to suit our circumstances can be very dangerous for people, for the church, and the nation.

Karl Marx knew this when he said “A people without a heritage are easily persuaded [deceived].” That is why God continually told His people, the Jews, to “remember”, to pass on to the next generation the knowledge of the things He had done.

Jesus continually preached from the Old Testament, often summarising for effect, as He did when he condensed the Ten Commandments into two. This condensing

didn’t change the real meaning; He just re-expressed it. Jesus did not take away anything from them; He just encompassed their whole character in
fewer words.

The writers of the New Testament continually referred to the people of the Old Testament for inspiration and encouragement, and to demonstrate God’s character and faithfulness.

The Old Testament is our heritage along with the New. One cannot take it away, water it down, or pick and choose, without damaging the whole and thus damaging the present and the future.

The Beatles sang, “Love, love, love; love is all there is’, but their own lives bore witness to how wrong that was. From four (fairly) wholesome young men they turned to free love, drugs and eastern religion and found it all eventually fell apart.

Love (or the lust that is mistaken for love) is not all there is. There are Ten Commandments (not just two); there are many ‘not so nice’ parts of the Bible that are there to shape and mould us to fit our creator’s original intention – that we should have a relationship with Him and emulate that in our marriages, our family life, our community and our nation.

Without God, family can mean anything. WITH God, family is specific – dad, mum and children - because it is a true reflection of the unity and interaction of the Trinity. That is God’s way and nobody should try to say anything else is acceptable ‘simply because they love each other’. Family, like life, needs to be more about truth and right relationship, than simply about love.

Yours in His service
Peter & Jenny Stokes