#474 (3/24) SUNDAY SPECIAL - I HAVE TO WONDER ...The Church and Same-Sex "Marriage"

URGENT PRAYERS/PETITIONS:

I HAVE TO WONDER... As the U.S. Supreme Courts prepares to review 2 cases THIS TUES AND WED (3/26 AND 3/27) regarding whether to uphold the traditional definition of marriage or redefine it to include same-sex "marriages," I think back 40 years ago when it decided to redefine the personhood of the unborn and allow abortions throughout all 9 months of a woman's pregnancy. IF the court rules against thousands of years of precedent in societies worldwide - as well as the Biblical definition of marriage ONLY being allowed between one man and one woman- the very survival of the institution of the family and its impact on society may be even more devastating than abortion has been. I praise God for the mainly Christian groups that have fought for many years against this dangerous effort by homosexual activists, often in the face of vicious attacks. (I just read that those activists have been spending around $200 million A YEAR for almost 2 decades to promote same-sex "marriage!") But I have to ask if the vast majority of Christians are even aware of what may be about to happen, or if they are even conscious of the danger such a redefinition of marriage will bring. Even scarier, have Christians (in particular our young people) so immersed themselves in the culture of political correctness that they've been blinded to believe that there is nothing wrong with the concept of same-sex marriage?!!  I've always wondered what the pulpits were teaching about abortions at the time it was legalized.  Now, as we come to another critical point in our nation's history, is the Church again guilty of silence? Should we not expect that a clear teaching on the subject of traditional marriage be coming from our pulpits, let alone be hearing PRAYERS for the preservation of traditional marriage, be coming from our pulpits? If not, I have to wonder, WHY NOT? - Stan]  

PLEASE PRAY EVERY DAY through this Wed. 3/27 that the U.S. Supreme Court will uphold Prop. 8 (the CA law which defines marriage as only between a man and a woman) and the Defense of Marriage Act (signed into federal law in 1996) that does the same. PRAY that the Court will resist any pressure to MAKE new law based on "cultural trends." PRAY as though the very future of the institution of the family is at stake because it is.

CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR PASTOR SAEED (Iranian-born AMERICAN pastor who just started an 8 year sentence for helping the underground churches in Iran) - "As Iran continues to abuse imprisoned American Pastor Saeed Abedini, its goal is now clear -- force Pastor Saeed to deny Christ.We've obtained a new letter from Pastor Saeed detailing his continued mistreatment in the deadly Evin Prison, including Iran's efforts to force him to convert from Christianity back to Islam. Pastor Saeed writes: "[A]fter all of these pressures, after all of the nails they have pressed against my hands and 'feet, they are only waiting for one thing…for me to deny Christ.' Yet he is standing strong, declaring '"they will never get this from me.' (Read of the inspiring  letter he has written from prison at http://aclj.org/iran/pastor-saeed-writes-psychological-warfare-physical-violence-death-threats-iranian-prison) UPDATE of 3/11 - 1) Those in support of Pastor Saeed have been at the UN meetings in Geneva the past week testifying to the Human Rights Commission; 2) The American Center for Law and Justice testified before a committee of the House of Rep. on Friday about Pastor Saeed and other persecuted Christians in the Middle East  Shockingly, our State department failed to even send a reprsentative to the hearing (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/15/state-dept-ducks-hearing-us-pastor-detained-iran/) If you have not already, please join nearly 500,000 (was recently250,000) who have signed the petition  for Pastor Saeed's release and tell your friends about it.  http://aclj.org/iran/save-american-pastor-from-iranian-prison-sentence 

As the Lord leads, please pray:

• For Pastor Abedini as he endures one of Iran’s most deadly prisons, potentially beaten and abused regularly, simply because of his Christian faith.
• For the pastor’s wife and family and the Holy Spirit’s comfort upon them.
• For the continuing meetings at the UN meetings in Geneva about Pastor Saeed.
• For the U.S. State Department to get involved in a significant way to obtain the pastor’s release.

PLEASE Continue to PRAY: "Libya Arrests Suspected Christian Missionaries ," February 16, 2013; "Four foreigners were arrested in Libya on suspicion of distributing books about Christianity and proselytizing, a Libyan police spokesman said on Saturday. Spreading Christianity is a crime in the predominantly Muslim North African county. The four were arrested in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday and are under investigation for printing and distributing books that proselytize Christianity. Police said they found 45,000 books in their possession and that another 25,000 have already been distributed. The suspects are from South Africa, Egypt, South Korea, and one holds both Swedish and U.S. Nationality. The U.S. Embassy in Libya has declined comment. "(Sources: CBS News, USA Today, Associated Press) [So much for the so-called "Arab Spring." - Stan]As the Lord leads, PLEASE PRAY:  ·   For the timely release of the arrested missionaries. ·   For all who share God’s loving salvation in Muslim countries.   

REMINDER: "Truth That Transforms" broadcast - (Cen. FL - Sun., 5 pm, ch. 55.1; Mon. 7 pm. ch. 52.2; www.truthinaction.org) This week's message is on "The Atonement of Christ" with a feature entitled "Is There Justice? Is There A Hell?

 "Recasting The Controversy - The Case Against Gay Marriage," by: Chuck Colson|Breakpoint.org;: January 23, 1997

In so many words a clergyman lectured readers of a Missouri newspaper after the sitcom Friends ran an episode featuring a lesbian wedding. “The issue,” the clergyman wrote, is “learning to live in a multi-cultural, multimores, multi-religious, multi-everything world.” Well. When even religious leaders support same-sex marriage, no wonder it’s the hottest cultural issue today..,..

 

Yet on constitutional questions, the courts have the power to strike down laws. The only real hope for deterring them is through public opinion. As Christians, we must help build a democratic consensus. We must craft arguments that all citizens can understand, translating biblical morality into statements about public good.

Just how does gay marriage threaten the public good? Barney Frank, a gay congressman, phrased the question this way: “I don’t understand how it hurts anybody else if two people want to be legally... responsible for each other.” His comment has a certain appeal, but it misses the point. Tolerating gays privately is not the same thing as granting them the right to the public institution of marriage. Accepting same-sex relationships as the moral and legal equivalent of marriage will transform the very definition of marriage—with repercussions far beyond the gay subculture.

In Crisis magazine, David Coolidge outlines two broad views of marriage warring for dominance in America today. The first is the Complementarity model. It assumes that the universe was created with an objective moral order and that marriage is the most fundamental social institution. In legal terms, the right to marry means the state’s recognition of a prior moral order.

But the Complementarity model is being challenged by what Coolidge calls the Choice model. This model assumes that the universe is malleable and that individuals create their own truths and values. Sexuality has no intrinsic meaning: It’s merely an opportunity for pleasure, intimacy, and reproduction. Here the right to marry is merely the right of individuals to participate in state-defined benefits.

If same-sex marriage wins the day legally, a message will be built into the law itself that there is no objective moral order, that marriage is a human invention.And if people believe marriage is just a convention, then they’ll be free to change it, redefine it, even discard it—with tragic results. Family breakdown has become the single most reliable predictor of teen pregnancy, substance abuse, and crime.

These are arguments Christians can use in the public square. Marriages are fragile enough already. If we deny legal recognition of its unique status, we’re sure to see an even more rapid erosion of family life—with all its frightening consequences.

"The Biblical Case for Protecting Traditional Marriage," Posted on February 1, 2013
by Truth In Action Ministries; http://www.truthimpact.me/index.php/2013/02/the-biblical-case-for-protecting-traditional-marriage/?utm_source=Impact+e-Newsletter&utm_campaign=a4baf32ce0-Impact_Newsletter_2_8_2012&utm_medium=email

Jesus Christ affirmed God’s plan for marriage:

“… He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh …’”
(Matthew 19:4-5 nkjv)

The unity in marriage is, indeed, physical, but it is also emotional and spiritual, reflecting the unity enjoyed by the Trinity and mirroring the unity of Christ and His church. God’s commandment, “Be fruitful and multiply,” was given within the context of marriage (Genesis 1:28 nkjv).  He intended marriage between man and woman to be lifelong, committed, and cooperative—creating a suitable environment for raising children. Glenn Stanton said, in Marriage on Trial, “Just as it is wrong to say that sex should be set free from marriage, or that marriage need not be for life, it is also wrong to say that husband or wife, or mother or father, don’t matter for the family.”

Marriage between one man and one woman—for life—is God’s plan. He instituted it to enable civilizations to prosper and flourish from generation to generation.“Tolerating” any other plan for marriage only brings heartache and pits a society against God.

[bold and italics emphasis mine]