Cross purposes

Geelong played Hawthorn in a football match. Geelong won. A newspaper journalist who wrote a match report used an apostrophe incorrectly. Star player Gary Ablett is well known as an evangelical Christian. Hawthorn supporters booed him. While some commentators suggested that this was because he staged for a free kick in the previous game that these two teams played, others said the reason for it was that he liked rugby star Israel Folau's controversial Instagram post. After a meeting with league officials, Ablett unliked the post.

If so, then it seems that this is the result of the AFL's influence over millions of football fans around Australia. In recent years, it has thrown its weight behind trendy political causes such as legalising same sex marriage, pushing the normalisation of homosexuality through a gay pride round, and making it racist to criticise players from racial or ethnic minorities.

As well as a sporting organisation, it is also a a political activist group, and a self appointed arbiter of morality and ethics.

Clarity

Darrell Bock is a well known Biblical scholar, and a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He's written a Biblical response to same sex marriage. Same sex marriage supporters often try to argue that the Bible condones polygamy, incest, and other variants on monogamous marriage. I find the dismantling of this argument particularly helpful. Where the Bible talks about these things, it is clear from the context that it is descriptive, and not prescriptive.

You also often hear, sometimes from Christians, that the Old Testament prohibitions on homosexuality are just like the ceremonial laws that the ancient Israelites had to observe, with dietary restrictions, and restrictions on wearing clothing made of different fabrics. These Old Testament laws no longer apply.

Careful hermeneutics will help you to understand that the ceremonial laws served a purpose that is no longer needed, because they were abrogated by Christ. The moral laws remain. Like it or not, any expression of sexuality outside of monogamous, opposite sex marriage is a sin in the eyes of God.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-same-sex-marriage-6-wrong-trajectories

Well and truly over the rainbow

In the wake of last week's momentous US Supreme Court ruling legalizing same sex marriage across the United States, several of my Christian friends expressed their support for it by superimposing a rainbow flag, the symbol of the gay rights movement, over their social media profile pictures.

Pastor Kevin DeYoung of the Gospel Coalition, has written 40 questions that are addressed to Christians who support same sex marriage. I'd also like to put these questions to my friends. To this list I would also ask them how they would define the noun Arsenokoitai, used by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10.

As I reflect on what scripture says as a whole about marriage and sexuality, it seems to me that any Christian who wants to honour God with how they express their sexuality has only two options. They either marry one spouse of the opposite sex, or stay celibate. I do not see how there is another option, unless I have that wrong.

http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/07/01/40-questions-for-christians-now-waving-rainbow-flags/

http://biblehub.com/greek/733.htm

That's hardly earth shattering, is it?

Occasionally I read the blog Groupsects. My take on it is this. The person who runs this blog doesn't let on much about his background, but reading between the lines, the astute reader can work it out for themselves.

He used to attend a church, but was treated badly because of his sexuality. This blog is his way of seeking retribution.

He does this by aggregating news stories about bad things that Christians do, both leaders and laypeople. It might be sexual misconduct, financial fraud, murder, bizarre behaviour informed by acting on distorted teaching, spiritual abuse, dysfunction, and the like.

When I look at this blog, it seems to be about mudslinging. It’s all well and good to aggregate news stories about bad things that Christians do, but it’s not offering a corrective. Most thinking Christians are already well aware that the church is in trouble, so I don't find anything earth shattering here either. The perfect church does not exist, and you won't find it on this side of eternity.

Plenty of people have been given the rough end of the stick by churches, which is very sad. Rather than acting in isolation to relentlessly bag the church and Christians out for their shortcomings, I suggest that obtaining some counselling or forming a support group to help each other heal and move on is a more constructive response.

In any case, I’m nothing without Jesus, and I am utterly incapable of living a life that honours God (Isaiah 64:6) without His grace and mercy. There is no room for pride or feelings of superiority, thinking, "I'm glad I'm not like them." (Luke 18:9-14). To any non-Christians who read that blog, and think, “if that’s what Christians are like, then I don’t want to be one,” I say that even if some Christians are hypocrites, and I do mean some, it doesn't mean you’re off the hook with God. No man or woman has an excuse. You need to bow your knee at the foot of the cross, repent, and receive forgiveness and salvation.

His and his

A same sex couple from South Australia have used surrogacy to adopt twin boys from Thailand. Conventional wisdom once held that where possible, the best thing for children was for them to be raised by their biological parents. Numerous longitudinal sociological studies show this set of arrangements provides the best environment for children to grow up to become happy, well adjusted adults who are productive members of society.

Society at large also subscribed to the social ethic that having children was a very important responsibility. Conventional wisdom no longer applies these days. This is the age of rights and not responsibilities. The rights of the individual seem to be paramount, and must not be restricted in any way. As such, it now seems that having children is a right that must be given to anyone who demands it.

My reader might be wondering why any of this concerns me. Aren't other peoples' domestic arrangements and sexual preferences their own business? This upsets me because I am a twin. The last time I said I did not agree with same sex couples raising children, citing a widely publicized research study that was published in 2013, someone tried to tell me that children raised by same sex parents turn out just as well as those raised by opposite sex couples.

This study was not worth the paper it was printed on. Its author found his research sample by advertising for participants in a gay and lesbian magazine, and not a peer reviewed academic journal with proper scrutiny. These participants were also told beforehand what the purpose of the study was going to be. This meant that its findings were skewed by favourable self reporting from the participants.

The fact of the matter is that because same sex couples and parenting is a relatively recent phenomenon, there is not enough social science data available to determine how children of same same parents may turn out as adults. When this data is available, it will need to be analysed and allowed to speak for itself, free of any spin or political agendas. Until then, they will seemingly be unaware participants in a radical social experiment. 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/south-australian-gay-couple-travel-to-thailand-for-birth-of-their-surrogate-twins/story-fnii5yv7-1226821437995

Matters controversial

Catching up with Bill Muehlenberg at his book launch

This afternoon I was one of 70 people who had the privilege of attending the launch of Strained Relations: The Challenge of Homosexuality. Its author, Bill Muehlenberg, is one of Australia's foremost Christian social commentators, and has lectured in ethics and social issues at various theological colleges. He is generally respected in Christian circles for his boldness and courage in speaking out against current cultural trends in permissive Western society, but outside of the Christian world, and even sometimes within it, he is a figure of derision and hatred. 

As a friend of the author, I went along to his book launch to express my support for him and his important work. This post is written for the same reason, as an expression of solidarity with him. I genuinely like and respect him, uphold him in my prayers, and considering the difficult circumstances under which he works, I see him as an exemplar of God-given resilience and faithfulness to his special calling. We need more Christians like him, with unswerving commitment and dedication. I am very much looking forward to reading this book, and engaging with its explosive content that reveals a side of the homosexual rights movement that the mainstream media deliberately chooses to ignore.

Stick your boots in

Nearly four weeks ago I wrote on this blog about the storm in a teacup that Loree Rudd, sister of former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, found herself in when she was interviewed about her campaign against the legalization of same sex marriage in Australia. Specifically she was taken to task and had her name dragged through the mud for her remarks about the heavy handed tactics that the more militant elements of the gay rights movement use against their opponents.

Now we find the same thing done to Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine. In the face of the relentless push for same sex marriage rights, and the demands of same sex couples to be given the right to adopt and raise children, all she did was dare to assert that the best way for children to be raised is by a mother and father.  For daring to express such an opinion, she found herself pilloried in public discourse as a nasty bigot.

The same thing happened to Rebecca Hagelin last week when she addressed a rally organised by several pro-family groups in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra. Part of her address warned that the legalization of same sex marriage will create the circumstances in which other interest groups will start queueing up to agitate for new forms of marriage to suit their particular preferences. The fact that her warnings are already proving to be accurate is of no consequence to her opponents.

The Left is often fond of making themselves out to be more open minded and tolerant than those nasty conservatives. Once again we see that this is merely a facade. They show their true colours when someone dares to question or oppose their agenda. They think nothing of twisting the words of their opponents, or slander and intimidation. It's outrageous, and nobody seems to take them to task for it.