“An organization that has the explicit purpose of restricting women’s rights by removing rights to abortion, the right for women to control their own bodies, is not in line with where we are as a government and quite frankly where we are as a society,” Trudeau said in answer to a question about free speech. Read more…
MY TAKE: Frankly, I’m perfectly happy to not be in line with society. As Christians we should be more worried if we fit in with the society around us than if we don’t.
Or, as James put it: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
2. Christians Suffered an Increase in Persecution Last Year With 245 MILLION Facing Violence or Oppression Around the World — 30 Million More Than a Year Ago
Christians around the world suffered a huge increase in persecution last year — with around 30 million more people being targeted than in the previous year.
A report by Open Doors, a Dutch charity that supports persecuted Christians showed that in total, 245 million faced violence or oppression in 2018, with 73 countries listed as danger zones for Christians.
China has been named among the most dangerous places to be a Christian after new laws governing religious expression led to raids and the demolition of scores of churches.
MY TAKE: Persecution of Christians is nothing new and our Lord clearly warned us this suffering accompanied our calling.
It’s admittedly easy for me to encourage my suffering Christian brothers and sisters while sitting here in my comfortable workspace, safe, and unmolested by an oppressive government or godless neighbors.
Instead, please allow me to share the comfort of the scriptures as penned by our fellow heirs in Christ, Paul and James:
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31–39
Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
James 1:12
Click HERE to learn more about the persecution of Christians around and what you can do to help.
Most of all, please consider joining the Open Doors Prayer Force (it’s free and easy) and pray for the persecuted saints.
3. We Will Look Back and View Abortion as We View Slavery Today
On the issue of slavery, Lincoln was pro-life.
He knew that human life is not a creature of political definition, but a divine truth toward which we need to be in deference and awe, as we are in awe of the God that created it.
There is little doubt in my mind that one day Americans will look back on our history with disbelief that it was once legal in America for women to be judge and jury of life itself and to destroy the miracle of life within them.
MY TAKE: The negative consequences of our nation’s imagined right of abortion are beyond our mortal comprehension. From the assault on the dignity and value of human life to the attack on our core founding document, the Constitution, the shedding of innocent blood has stained the fabric of our society.
Even if the Lord eventually provides for the abolition of this legalized slaughter, the United States of America will never recover its original glory.
Pray for the abolition of legalized abortion and for God’s mercy on us as a people.
4. Abortion Defunding Bill Fails in Senate
The effort to remove the federal government from the abortion business failed Thursday (Jan. 17) in the U.S. Senate.
The proposal, S. 109, would establish a permanent, government-wide ban on funds for abortions by standardizing the prohibitions that now exist in various federal programs. The bill also would block federal money for abortion coverage under the 2010 health-care law and guarantee full disclosure of abortion funding by health insurance plans that are part of the controversial arrangement.
MY TAKE: It’s a tragedy that our U.S. Senate cannot even muster 60 votes in favor of life. This great evil is a crime against humanity and it will not go unpunished.
5. This Texas Church Paid Off the Lunch Debts of an Entire School District With Its Christmas Donations
If the church does not impact the community the church is in, then the church isn’t doing its job.
The church was able to benefit over 200 families, says Bryant, clearing about $6,000 in debt. The outstanding donation will be set aside to help students in need for the rest of the school year.
MY TAKE: Jesus said it best when a Jewish lawyer sought to test the Son of God:
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Matthew 22:36–40
If you have any doubt as to who is your neighbor, see how Jesus answered the question, “Who is my neighbor?” in Luke 10:29–37.
6. LifeWay Christian Store Announces They Are Closing Several Locations
Popular Christian book store, LifeWay Christian Store announced Wednesday that would be closing several of its store locations due to a significant decline in sales.
“In simple terms, a strategic shift is required for moving more and more of our resources to a dynamic digital strategy. We will be transitioning many of those resources from our LifeWay stores to digital channels.”
MY TAKE: The nature and conduct of business has been in a constant state of flux since the very first time that one person traded something of value for another.
Although online commerce got off to a slow start following its very first transaction in 1984, the growth of that sales medium since Amazon first launched as an online bookseller in 1991 has skyrocketed and we’re now seeing a business cycle in which brick-and-mortar retailers are feeling the squeeze of online merchants.
The landscape is littered with the hollowed out shells of formerly profitable businesses. Sadly, LifeWay is traveling that sad road right before our eyes.
7. March for Life 2019: Vice President Pence Makes Surprise Visit at DC Rally
Thousands of anti-abortion activists, including many young people bundled up against the cold weather gripping the nation’s capital, gathered at a stage on the National Mall Friday for their annual march in the long-contentious debate over abortion.
Signs reading “Choose love, Choose life,” “I am the pro-life generation,” and “Defund Planned Parenthood” dotted the crowd gathering under hazy, wintry skies at the morning rally.
Like last year, President Donald Trump addressed the group by video. He promised to veto any bill that “weakens the protection of human life.”
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, who attended the event, listed actions the administration has taken over the past two years to deter abortions.
MY TAKE: It’s refreshing to have a president and a vice-president who value life and are working to protect the unborn.
Pray for both of these men and their families, as well as all who are engaged in the battle for life with them. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Psalm 139:13–16
8. ‘Criticism of Christian Education in America Should Stop,’ Vice President Pence Defends His Wife amid Media Backlash
Vice President Mike Pence’s wife was the target of criticism this week after she announced that she would be teaching art at a private conservative Christian school, and the Vice President is stepping up to defend her.
Pence said, “My wife and I have been in the public eye for quite a while but I have to tell you, to see major news organizations attacking Christian education is deeply offensive.”
The Vice President continued, “We have a rich tradition in America of Christian education and, frankly, religious education broadly defined. We celebrate it. The freedom of religion is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States.”
“The Constitution prohibits a religious test for holding public office, so we’ll let the critics roll off our back. But this criticism of Christian education in America should stop,” he concluded.
MY TAKE: I can’t add to Pence’s strong and accurate statements, but I am happy to express my gratitude to both the Vice President and Mrs. Pence for showing what a God-designed and God-centered marriage should be.
9. Artists’ Religious Freedom Hanging in the Balance as Arizona Takes Up Phoenix Anti-Discrimination Case
The Arizona Supreme Court is set to hear a case next week involving two artists who want to stop a Phoenix law that makes it illegal for business owners to deny service to same-sex couples on the basis of religion.
Violators of the ordinance could face up to six months jail time — a fate plaintiffs Joanna Duka and Breanna Koski are hoping to avoid.
“Courts have long recognized individuals’ right ‘to hold a point of view different from the majority and to refuse to foster… an idea they find morally objectionable,” the Alliance Defending Freedom, which represents the two women, argued in its most recent brief filed with the state’s high court.
“Yet Phoenix tramples that right when it requires a calligrapher to pick up her pen and a painter her brush, and then, under threat of jail and crippling fines, forces them to conceive and then create original artwork expressing messages that violate their core religious convictions. Such government compulsion violates the fundamental liberty ‘to refrain from speaking….’” ADF stated.
MY TAKE: This kind of governmental overreach is nothing new, but the behavior has no place in a free society and it should be a thing of the past.
See The Center for Religious Liberty’s publication, Religious Liberty and the “Wedding Vendor” Cases for more news about similar cases over the past several years and for ideas about what you can do to help fight this trend. Hint: Pray, Vote, and Stand against the ungodly cultural onslaught.
10. Virginia Senator Introduces Bill Authorizing Elective Bible Courses in Commonwealth’s High Schools
A Virginia senator has introduced a bill that would authorize the creation of elective Bible courses in public high schools, with the stipulation that they be neutral toward religion and do not “favor [or] disfavor … any particular religion or nonreligious perspective.”
“The purpose of any such course is to introduce students to biblical content, characters, poetry, and narratives that are prerequisites to understanding contemporary society and culture, including literature, art, music, mores, oratory, and public policy,” the bill outlines.
“Each such course shall be designed to familiarize students with the contents, history, and literary style and structure of the relevant texts and their influence on law, history, government, literature, art, music, customs, morals, values, and culture.”
MY TAKE: We live in a sad time when it literally takes a special law to allow the teaching of the holy scriptures in our schools.
How far we’ve fallen since the founding of our nation, of which John Adams — a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights — stated: “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”
If one of our goals for public education is to teach our young people morals, then there is no better source for such instruction than the Bible. As Benjamin Franklin noted: “As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see.”
Originally published at www.christiannewsdigest.com on January 19, 2019.
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