The End of Comfortable Christianity

Let’s face it: believers in the West have had a dream run up until recently. It has been easy street, big time. Christians and non-Christians pretty much lived together conflict-free, and often one was not all that distinguishable from the other.

In fact, for many, what they thought was Christianity was simply cultural Christianity. Everyone more or less believed in God, believed in Jesus, acknowledged the reality of sin, and so on. Most people gave mental assent to the Christian religion, and many went to church each week believing this was the thing to do.

How many of these folks were actual regenerate believers is another matter of course. But the stroll through the park is now coming to an end. As things really do start to heat up, with anti-Christian bigotry and persecution now becoming the norm in the West, it is no longer a free ride for believers.

comfortableThe increasingly anti-Christian culture that we live in does serve one invaluable purpose: it is separating the men from the boys, or biblically speaking, the sheep from the goats. As things get more difficult for believers, the real disciples will rise to the surface while the frauds, fakes and cultural Christians will fall by the wayside.

And that is a good thing. It is time to stop playing games: as the persecution increases, we will see who the real deal Christians are, and who are not. Enough game playing and trivial pursuits. The day of comfortable Christianity is now over. It is time to get serious.

Clearly one of the main litmus tests today of those who mean business with God and those who don’t centres around the issue of homosexuality. This is becoming the key battleground where anti-Christian persecution is escalating rapidly.

The homosexual activists are using the heavy hand of the law to enforce their agenda on everyone – whether they like it or not. More and more Christians, churches and faith groups are being targeted by the militants, and we are seeing who will stand true to Christ and Scripture and who will cave in.

Two very recent articles have just been written on such matters, buttressing what I am saying here, so they both are worth quoting from. The first comes from evangelical commentator and Professor of Biblical Studies Denny Burk. He speaks about the disappearing middle ground in the homosexuality debates, and the coming conflict. He begins:

Middle ground is disappearing on the question of whether LGBT persons should be treated as full equals, without any discrimination in society — and on the related question of whether religious institutions should be allowed to continue discriminating due to their doctrinal beliefs.
It turns out that you are either for full and unequivocal social and legal equality for LGBT people, or you are against it, and your answer will at some point be revealed. This is true both for individuals and for institutions. Neutrality is not an option. Neither is polite half-acceptance. Nor is avoiding the subject. Hide as you might, the issue will come and find you….
Those pushing for LGBT “rights” do not mean to offer any accommodation whatsoever to those of us who dissent from the moral revolution overtaking the West. All dissent must be eliminated, and those who continue to defy the revolution must be marginalized as morally retrograde bigots. There will be no hiding. No compromises. Everyone will eventually be smoked-out. And those who resist will be crushed. That is their aim.

The consequences are very real:

Openly discriminatory religious schools and parachurch organizations will feel the pinch first. Any entity that requires government accreditation or touches government dollars will be in the immediate line of fire. Some organizations will face the choice either to abandon discriminatory policies or risk potential closure. Others will simply face increasing social marginalization.
A vast host of neutralist, avoidist, or de facto discriminatory institutions and individuals will also find that they can no longer finesse the LGBT issue. Space for neutrality or “mild” discrimination will close up as well.

He too writes about the sifting process going on here:

We also know that the conflicts ahead will be a proving ground for the faithful. There are many who call themselves Christian now but who will fall away when the conflicts come. When it becomes costly to follow what Jesus says about sexual immorality, some people will deny Jesus’ word in order to avoid the conflict. And that denial will not lead them to Jesus but away from Jesus. The settled conviction to deny Christ’s word is what the Bible calls apostasy (1 Tim. 4:1). Their going out from us to join the opposition will show what they are: “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.” -1 John 2:19
We are preparing ourselves for the heartbreak of these departures. But as they go out, the faithful are going to count the cost of staying in. That is what we are doing right now. And we are praying for the strength and resolve to stand when the heat is on. It is not even on our radar screen to consider turning back.

He concludes:

What America has been is not what it will be either for you or for your children. Are you preparing yourself and your children to be faithful when it all comes down? Are you going to be faithful to Christ when they tell you that following Christ means giving up your livelihood? There are already American Christians who are facing that choice right now.
If you think that you and I are exempt from this kind of persecution, you are wrong. We have no guarantee that we will not face the same difficulty in the near or long term. We might. And the question that we have to ask ourselves is this. Will we be ready when our time comes? If we are unwilling to suffer at the easy end of the persecution spectrum, we won’t be ready when the persecution begins moving toward the more difficult end of the spectrum. We need to be ready, and we need to be preparing our kids to be ready. And the first step to being ready is to remember, “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” This is the norm, not the exception.

My second author is Msgr. Charles Pope, a dean and pastor in the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. He too speaks to the growing hostility of the surrounding culture and the rise in persecution:

There is a growing consternation among some Catholics that the Church, at least in her leadership, is living in the past. It seems there is no awareness that we are at war and that Catholics need to be summoned to sobriety, increasing separation from the wider culture, courageous witness and increasing martyrdom. It is long past dark in our culture, but in most parishes and dioceses it is business as usual and there is anything but the sober alarm that is really necessary in times like these….
If there ever was a time to wear soft garments, it is not now. It is zero-dark-thirty in our post-Christian culture. And while we may wish to blame any number of factors for the collapse, we cannot exclude ourselves. We who are supposed to be the light of the world, with Christ shining in us, have preferred to hide our light under a basket and lay low. The ruins of our families and culture are testimony to the triumph of error and the suppression of the truth.
More than ever we need to shift toward being distinctive from the culture we have refused to critique and call to reform. More than ever our faith needs to shine brightly and clearly in our churches and communities.
And if a world now accustomed to great darkness calls our light harsh, so be it. If our light does not shine, there is no light at all….
Simply put, it is time for clergy to prepare themselves and God’s people for sacrifice. Seeking to compromise with this culture is now unthinkable. Our only recourse is to seek to lance the boils. And the culture will cry foul. And we who do the lancing will be made increasingly to suffer. But we have to be willing to embrace and endure such suffering in increasing ways in the months and years ahead.
We are at war for our own souls and the souls of people we love. We are at war for the soul of this culture and nation. And like any soldier, we must train to fight well. We must study our faith and be more committed than ever. We must also know our enemy and his tactics, and we must be prepared to suffer — and even to lose our life.
We have to retool and provide every opportunity to get clear about our faith. Sermons and other teachable moments must sound a clear call to personal conversion and to battle for souls and to stop treating lightly the sinful disregard for God’s law in our families and communities.

He concludes:

It is time, past time, to retool. It is time to prepare for persecutions that will get bolder by the month and year. The dark movements that marched in under the banners of tolerance never meant it. And having increasingly gained power, they are seeking to criminalize anyone who resists their vision. No tolerance for us. Religious liberty is eroding, and compulsory compliance is already here. The federal courts increasingly shift to militantly secular and activist judges who legislate from the bench.
When will we as a Church finally say to the bureaucrats who demand we comply with evil laws: “We will not comply. If you fine us we will not pay. If you seek to confiscate our buildings, we will turn maximum publicity against you, but we still will not comply. If you arrest us, off to jail we go! But we will simply not comply with evil laws or cooperate with evil.” Right now, most of us can barely imagine our clergy standing so firm. Quiet compromises and jargon-filled “solutions” will be a grave temptation to a Church ill-prepared for persecution.
Call me alarmist or call me idealist, but I hope we find our spine before it is too late. It is usually a faithful remnant that saves the day in the Biblical narrative. I pray only for the strength to be in that faithful remnant. Will you join me too? Let’s pray and start retooling now. Only our unambiguous faith can save us or anyone we love. Pray for strong and courageous faith.

It was the late Archdiocese of Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George (1937-2015) who said, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.”

That is the right approach to take. Things are going downhill fast, separating the wheat from the chaff, but God is not finished yet, and we must persevere until the end. And the only way we can do that is to make a full break from comfortable Christianity.

http://www.dennyburk.com/the-disappearing-middleground-and-the-coming-conflict/
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/comfort-catholicism-has-to-go-it-is-time-to-prepare-for-persecution

[1920 words]

23 Replies to “The End of Comfortable Christianity”

  1. Here you have Christian parents who pay good money to send their daughters to an Anglican school being told off for asking that their teachers abide by a Christian ethos
    AUGUST 26 2016 SMH
    Elite Anglican school Kambala hits back after complaints about gay teachers

    The school council at the exclusive Sydney Anglican girls’ school Kambala has been applauded for publicly admonishing the views of two sets of parents who had complained that the employment of gay teachers was not “living up to our Christian values”.

    In a firmly worded letter sent out to parents on Wednesday, school council president and prominent businesswoman Sally Herman made it clear that Kambala would not discriminate, either positively or negatively, when hiring staff at the Rose Bay institution.

    Exclusive Sydney Anglican girls school Kambala issue a firmly worded response after some parents complained that the hiring of gay teachers was not “living up to our Christian values”.
    That policy extended to the sexual orientation of staff members.

    Ms Herman – a Kambala Old Girl, who has worked in the financial services industry and also sits on the boards of Premier Investments, Suncorp and Breville – has been praised by some Kambala parents, community members and prominent marriage equality advocate Kerryn Phelps for her strong stance.

    “It is 2016. I think the response is not surprising,” Ms Herman told Fairfax Media on Friday, of the support she had received after writing the letter.

    “It was a message of support for our teachers and our girls, and to reinforce what people know Kambala stands for.”

    In her letter to parents, Ms Herman wrote: “There is little to be gained by me choosing words that cushion the message, so I will be straightforward.

    “In recent days, two families have stridently expressed their displeasure at Kambala for, in their opinion, not living up to our Christian values by hiring and retaining teachers who are gay.

    Sally Herman said Kambala would not discriminate when hiring teachers.

    “At the core of their displeasure is a concern that their daughters may be exposed to messages or values that they do not personally agree with.”

    She continued that all staff were selected on merit, empathy and their commitment to supporting the Christian ethos of the school.

    “We are a school community whose composition reflects the diversity of the broader community that we serve,” she wrote.

    “Families and girls from many faiths, ethnicities, sexual orientations and political convictions proudly call Kambala, ‘my school’. We exist together as a community that wants to be defined more by how we care for each other than how we might discriminate.”

    It is 2016. I think the response it not surprising.

    The letter includes a quote from 1 Corinthians 13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

    Ms Herman wrote: “At Kambala, love isn’t an optional extra.”

    She also said each teacher committed to not proselytising students, whatever their views might be.

    One parent wrote online that she was shocked to have received the letter from Ms Herman.

    “A teacher should only be judged on their work performance. Anything else is irrelevant,” the woman wrote.

    “How disappointing that parents would complain about a person’s sexual orientation. They don’t speak for me. Well done Sally Herman.”

    Another person said Ms Herman’s message “should be the gold standard for all schools in Australia, but it’s not”.

    “I hope your students are witnessing this stoush in order to see your leadership,” one person said, while another commented: “I am looking forward to the day when we don’t have to have the conversation about someone’s sexual preference. It’s no one else’s business.”

    Dr Phelps, the former president of the Australian Medical Association, said she applauded Ms Herman’s decisive response to the “small number of parents who were trying to purge the school of gay teachers”.

    “She provides an impressive example of the style of leadership needed by schools and workplaces everywhere … making it clear that attempts to discriminate on the basis of sexuality, ethnicity, gender, faith, or political convictions are not a part of their ethos. Well done Kambala and Sally Herman. Great role modelling for the girls at your school,” Dr Phelps said.

    Kambala principal Debra Kelliher declined to comment further, saying the letter “says it all”.

  2. Christians actually fought and died to get the freedoms we have in this country and homosexual’s apparently can’t even put up with the possibility that they might get upset. The fact is the vast majority of homosexuals don’t want anything to do with marriage. It is simply a political ploy to force an immoral and political agenda. People have the very fundamental right to have the human biological relationship respected uniquely. This is exactly as it should be. Homosexuals already have all of the functional and financial rights of marriage but the claim that this is a matter of equality is demonstrably false because not only are homosexual relationships not equal to marriage they are in fact functionally opposite. Marriage has always existed to bind families by their biological ties and is based on respect for this principle but homosexual relationships, by their very definition, break those ties and work against respect for them. I have no doubt that history will confirm the importance of respect for marriage and the natural family and the rights that necessarily flow from that. Consummation of marriage may no longer be a legal requirement but it is still at the very heart of what marriage is.

  3. Hopefully those parents took their children out of the school in protest and went elsewhere, sad though it is and disruptive to have to do so. The concept of a gay teacher working in a Christian school is one I can’t grasp. Do these idiots in charge have no idea that gay teachers can subtly (and not so subtly) influence the minds of the children? Perhaps they should give up being an Anglican school and become a secular one, because it’s obvious they’ve got no idea what being a Christian school actually demands of them.

  4. Thanks Bill, we all need encouragement. I hang my head in embarrassment often, and reading about Kambala school, well, we are in a mess if we want to sit back in our easy chairs. Remind them of the goal, and remind them to abide by God`s word rather than man`s. Middle ground is luke-warm anyway.

  5. Thank you for this post Bill. This site gives me hope there are awake Christians. I pray that as things get tougher that committed Christians will be led to 1st century style Christian communities where we can truly bear each other’s burdens.

  6. Hi Bill, many thanks for another much needed article, Acts 4:23-31 is a great example of how the early church responded to such situations. Again please, please, keep up the great work. Warm regards, Kelvin Nairn.

  7. Sorry to say, but I am not surprised about the Anglican school. Outside of the Sydney diocese, its all liberal. Has been for a long time. Why are people surprised?

  8. Our National identity along with any semblance of National pride is drowning in a sea of perversity as minority groups bolstered by their over-amplified sense of self-importance run amuck in a spirit of gay abandonment. They are completely devoid of all sense of decency and propriety; they reject, out of hand, all conformity to established standards and traditional values of good manners, moral fibre and proper behaviour. By their actions they are destroying the very fabric of society. Social acceptability is a poor substitute for high moral standards. Political correctness overrules every aspect of our once-harmonious lives and our cries of “enough!” are shouted down as ‘racist’ or ‘bigoted’. Will they ever understand that we who hold to traditional values also have rights; is it possible that they could learn to accept that their rights are no more important than ours? When will they stop being so selfish in pushing their own agendas and try to do something for the common good of all Australians? If a new spirit of Australian pride is to be infused into this country, there is one thorny and contentious reform which must be tackled, and that is the re-establishment and galvanization of the core values on which this country was founded.

  9. Indeed! Burk and Pope have expressed in fine detail the current status of the issues. I have had a sense for some time now that that the Gay marriage argument has been effectively won by the other side, when it comes to public opinion. This does not mean that we give up.

    If there is a plebiscite in Aust. then we are still duty bound to argue our case.
    If there is going to be a vote in Parliament we are still duty bound to lobby and influence the voting members.

    I have written two letters to our local paper; the first of which is a plea for respect, and it has been published; the second is a non religious comment about definitions, and hopefully will be published Wednesday. I have a list of other topics that will be addressed as time goes on. Blog readers are to feel free to use these letters if you wish. I have aimed at under 100 words to give the letters a better chance to be published.

    1.Love and marriage.

    Love and marriage.
    I know. I know.
    Marriage is about love, and we are also supposed to love every one.
    Can you love me – if I disagree with you?
    Can I love you and still disagree with you about something important?
    Can you love me – if I disagree with you about marriage?
    The answer should be yes.

    2. Talking about the same thing?.

    Are we talking about the same thing?
    Changing the meaning of words and concepts; means just that.
    If the meaning is changed, so has the subject of discussion.
    “Same sex marriage” can never really be real marriage; at least until we change the definition of marriage. If we change the definition of marriage, we will have to find another word or phrase or term that incorporates the age long idea of marriage. Perhaps we could call it “Fertile Marriage”.
    You see no matter how hard one tries “same sex marriage” will never be that; fertile.
    For the exact same reason, the two “marriages” can never be equal.

  10. Here’s another letter to the editor you can use:

    Marriage IS equality between one man and one woman, as the self-evident
    reality of human existence shows. It’s really the gay movement which
    rejects marriage equality, by denying the equality of the sexes that’s
    essential to marriage.

    I had it published in the Mercury in July last year, and used it in my letter to all 226 federal politicians.

  11. Kambala stands for non-discrimination. If you have the money, it will let you in.

  12. I have found truly jubilant Christians only in the Bible, in the Underground Church and in prison.
    Richard Wurmbrand

    I had prepared myself for prison and torture as a soldier in peacetime prepares for the hardships of war. I had studied the lives of Christians who had faced similar pains and temptations to surrender and thought how I might adapt their experiences. Many who had not so prepared themselves were crushed by suffering, or deluded into saying what they should not.
    Richard Wurmbrand

    It must be understood that there are no nominal, halfhearted, lukewarm Christians in Russia or China. The price Christians pay is far too great. The next point to remember is that persecution has always produced a better Christian – a witnessing Christian, a soul-winning Christian. Communist persecution has backfired and produced serious, dedicated Christians such as are rarely seen in free lands. These people cannot understand how anyone can be a Christian and not want to win every soul they meet.
    Richard Wurmbrand

    Consider as sin any minute of life spent on something other than saving souls for eternity from this world doomed to destruction.
    Richard Wurmbrand

  13. I haven’t seen direct persecution for my biblical stance that homosexuality is a perversion to God’s created order but I can see it on the margins.

    Eight days ago we as a family were visiting two family friends of ours who are not Christian and a third homosexual couple. During the conversation one our homosexual friends, who is a high school teacher, was talking about his secondary school maths class. The children asked him if he was married and he said no he had a long term partner and they asked was his partner male or female and he said male and they said ‘no problem, that’s cool’. Everyone in our Sunday afternoon group said ‘yeah, no worries mate, it cool’, or words to that effect. We stayed silent. This whole conversation was being listened to by our daughter. Difficult times are coming when our friends start speaking directly to our faces about their sinful lifestyle as if it were normal, and they know we are Christians who do not agree. We have to pray for their salvation, that they would be turned back before it is too late.

    We need to hate evil, cling to good, spread the gospel, pray for the lost, focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and the Scriptures evermore than before. The time is short. Get right with God and stay right!

  14. Jeremiah 1:19 “They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you. ESV

    Question: Did this promise remain true when Jeremiah was put in the stocks, and when he was dropped into the cistern, and when he was reviled?

    Question: Did the general tenant of this promise remain true when Jesus was crucified and James was killed with the sword (Acts 12:2) and Stephen was stoned (Acts 7) and Peter etc was imprisoned, and Christians were persecuted by Saul, and Paul was stoned, flogged etc etc.?

    Question: Does the general tenant of this wonderful promise remain true for the thousands of Christians being persecuted today, and for us as we stand more and more chance of being impoverished, being made uncomfortable, or worse because of the testimony of Jesus?

    The resounding answer is YES!, YES!, and YES!

    We need to remove from our world view that “prevail” and “deliver” are firstly about our physical welfare. It is firstly about the well being of our soul and spirit. A peaceful soul and faithful spirit can give us the strength to rise above any physical threat or mistreatment. Stephen demonstrates this amply with his final prayer “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” Acts 7:60

    This attitude we sorely need to cultivate, – and fast.

  15. Thanks for that Joe Deller. You motivated me to write to the Kambala school and I copied in the parents as well. The parents who complained must not be left to hang out to dry but need our support.
    This might be of use to others?

    Ms Debra Kelliher
    Principal
    Deputy Principal,Mr Kim Tsolakis
    Head of Senior School, Ms Carolyn Gavel (Acting Head of Senior School)
    Head of Junior School, Mr Stuart Coppin
    Director of Curriculum, Ms Katherine Mar (Acting Director of Curriculum)
    IB Coordinator, Ms Jennie Mickle
    Director of Hampshire House, Miss Caroline McLean
    Director of Boarding, Mrs Judy Duffy
    Overseas Student Coordinator, Mrs Judy Duffy
    Director of Development and Communications, Mrs Sarah Gregory
    Director of Enrolments, Mrs Tracy Mulligan
    IT Manager, Mr Ali Kuscu
    Business Manager, Mrs Candice Heapes
    Dean of Wellbeing, Dr Tamara Lang
    Kambala School
    Rose Bay
    Sydney

    Dear Principal Kelliher and Kambala School,
    I wish to comment on some views expressed by the school, regarding its employing two lesbians and its response to parents complaining about their daughters being taught by them. I am guessing that these parents will have been advised to take their children elsewhere?
    At one time, within living memory, a teacher was considered to be in loco parentis. The school was answerable to the parents of the children with whose physical, intellectual, moral and spiritual welfare they had been entrusted. Those were the days when parents trusted any school would respect their values and beliefs and not stray beyond those boundaries, at least not without informing parents or obtaining their permission. And certainly they would not place the rights of aggressive, minority groups over those of their children. Homosexuality can in no way be compared with race or colour. Without even having to appeal to science, showing there is absolutely no evidence for supporting this comparison, it is possible to argue against the case through reason. Sadly for most adults this is too much effort, but probably not for children.
    Sadly, reading statements from the school and the mass media, it appears that the school has uncritically swallowed Pink Philosophy, ideology, politics and theology, hook, line and sinker.
    The school can be forgiven for not having read the history of the Gay Liberation Movement from the time of Carl Maria Kertbeny in the late 19th century, going through the German Weimar period, the Frankfurt School, Alfred Kinsey, the Stonewall riots and the Gay Liberation Front. Indeed, why should anyone except a geek be the slightest interested in this? Yet the gays are being used- even without their knowledge- to destroy Western civilization.
    But a school can never be forgiven for ignoring one indisputable reality and that is that LGBTQI….XYZ rights are leading children into a life of physical, mental, emotional bondage [1], leading to spiritual, if not premature death. It has a duty of care.
    The Health Protection Agency, the Centre for Disease Control, the Terrance Higgins Trust and all gay web sites, like the Pink News and Huffington Post, uniformly, year on year, say that men who have sex with men are at greater risk of catching HIV AIDS, gonorrhoea, throat cancer, and becoming incontinent than the so called heterosexuals.
    Public Health England produced this report:
    ‘Gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men Since the first reports of HIV in the early 1980s, MSM have remained the group most at risk of acquiring HIV in the UK.
    In 2013, after adjusting for missing exposure category, there were 3,250 new HIV diagnoses reported among MSM; this compares to 3,230 reported in 2012 and represents the highest number ever reported in the UK.
    New HIV diagnoses among MSM accounted for 54% of all diagnoses reported in 2013. Both the proportion and number of new HIV diagnoses among MSM aged 15-24 years have increased over the past decade, from 8.7% (250/2,420) in 2004 to 16% (460/2,950) in 2013.
    One in ten MSM were diagnosed at the age of 50 years or above, with an overall median age at diagnosis of 33 years (Appendix 7). After adjusting for missing information on region of diagnosis, London had the highest number of new diagnoses among MSM (1,470), followed by the North of England (470), South of England (410) and the Midlands and East of England (340). Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had 130, 80 and 50 diagnoses respectively, in 2013.’ [2]
    Would Kambala school welcome someone promoting drugs and tobacco?
    Though lesbians are not in the same league as homosexuals for contracting sexually transmitted diseases, it is higher than that of straight women and they are the unnatural allies of homosexuals. Certainly there is a higher level of mental problems and domestic violence within lesbian partnerships.
    The fact that incidents of HIV may be slightly greater in the heterosexual community ignores the fact that gays are a tiny minority, only 1-1.5% of the population. They punch way above their weight with regard to promiscuity, paedophilia  and reporting to the nearest genito- urinary clinics [3]
    Finally, you will be encouraging your girls to eschew the need for a husband and father for their children. Does Kambala school support the view that lesbians make better mums than straight ones [4]? It will be breeding a generation that denies the right of every child to have both a father and mother [5] and reducing women simply to becoming a means of production -either for producing eggs, acting as a human incubator or both [6].
    Is the school keeping a close eye on its lesbian teachers?[7]
    Jesus said, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”Matthew 18:6
    [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy7QrZuJ1Jw
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSKWrKrFO2A
    [2]https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/401662/2014_PHE_HIV_annual_report_draft_Final_07-01-2015.pdf
    [3] http://www.homosexinfo.org/Psychiatry/Overview
    [4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00bqcs2
    [5] http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/4-year-old-killed-for-refusing-to-call-moms-lesbian-lover-daddy
    [6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs4iancnT2w
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20671176
    [7] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1215023/School-teacher-Helen-Goddard-jailed-15-months-lesbian-affair-teenage-pupil.html
    I am yours sincerely

    David Skinner UK

  16. MIchael Weeks, homosexuals do not want marriage. This is born out in Britain, when after kicking up a rumpus about wanting marriage and how nasty society was for denying them this status, there was not exactly a rush to altar. Out of a possible 950,000 LGBTs (1.5% of UK population) or using the highly massaged figures of Stonewall, 3,500,000 (6% of population) or the even more massaged figure of Alfred Kinsey, 6,400,000 (10%), only 30,000 gays availed themselves of this trophy – half of whom were already in civil partnerships. In other words, since 2014 when same sex marriage was launched onto the market there have only been 7.500 such conglomerates or unholy alliances formed. What the gays want is the marriage licence in order to drive marriage off the road and into the ditch. They want to appropriate it, change it and then discard it. What they want is not equality. They do not want settle down and become like us. They are forcing us to become like them. Moreover, having been given the right to same sex marriage this is the door to getting at the children and using them however the wish: as trophies, human shields and commodities. Look at this little lot and ask yourself isn’t Britain under God’s judgement and well on down the road to extinction.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En5G8urD7sE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEO3frkVBvY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LKCvmivdWE

    David Skinner UK

  17. Chris Dark, where to do parents take their children if there are no schools around or if they are not trained to home school? Has the correspondence school that used to operate in the Aussie Outback also gone queer?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/5453716/Primary-school-children-given-gay-assembly-with-Elton-John-song.html

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3344729/Mother-launches-homophobic-rant-Facebook-daughter-came-home-badge-promoting-gay-rights-week.html
    David Skinner UK

  18. Let us not forget Ken Miller who is in prison in America, “the land of the free”. His crime? To have helped Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella ( no relation to Ken) escape a predatory lesbian, Janet Jenkins and a corrupted judiciary . Lisa was ordered by a court to hand over her seven year old daughter to Jenkins and her lesbian partner and the rest of the gay community in Vermont, late December 2009. Instead of which Lisa managed to get help from a Mennonite pastor, Ken, a married man with six children to support. to escape the country.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME0kVBS882U

    Ken has paid dearly for this. Read Ken’s latest letter from prison, published on Thursday, 11 August 2016 14:56

    Dear Friends in Jesus Christ,
    This week’s cooler weather has been a huge blessing. At the end of July, we experienced what fellow inmates have been warning me about almost since day one—the hot, humid Petersburg summer. We have no air conditioning in the housing units, except for the TV rooms and I don’t go there. Indeed the dire predictions weren’t far off the mark. On at least one day the heat index reached 110 degrees. Even the outdoor rec yard was shut down. At midnight the temperature in our unit was 94. By morning, it had dropped to a “bone-chilling” 89.
    What did Jesus say it costs to follow Him? “…He that forsaketh not all that hath cannot be my disciple.” In this stunning declaration, Jesus confronts us with an exchange that must be made: “Give up everything in your life in exchange for Me.” What kind of exchange is that? Is it reasonable?
    I propose it IS reasonable, the most reasonable thing in the world–provided we have a proper grasp of REALITY.
    Let’s start with people, those dearest to us– father, mother, wife, husband, children, “yea and our own lives also.”
    Reality check: We can’t hang onto anyone. The dearest person on earth to me can be taken away in a heartbeat. My own life is fragile, like a vapor, or like grass which is growing in the morning, withering by afternoon.
    What about other things considered to be important: possessions, wealth, power, pleasure, fame? Is it reasonable to exchange these for Christ?
    Reality check: Everything in the above list is visible, tangible, enjoyable—and extremely short-lived. Nothing lasts.
    “He calls for me to leave all for His sake
    Lands, houses, family, loves–
    But His call is to leave what is only
    an ILLUSION of security.” (Martha Kilpatrick in “Adoration”)
    Nothing is truly secure, except one thing–the thing Mary had. “One thing is needful,” Jesus said, “and Mary has chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her.”
    In a world of empty promises, delusionary dreams, transient relationships, we have a Rock that can’t be taken away.
    Tears filled my eyes recently when a young boy sent me a card with these words scrawled on the inside:
    Oft upon the Rock I stand
    Faint of heart and weak of knee
    But the Blessed Rock of Ages
    Never trembles under me.
    Those who’ve found the Rock testify that yes, to leave all in exchange for that Rock is a reasonable option; in fact, it’s the only option.
    This is good for me to remember in right now. My family and I are in another period of uncertainty. I’m being called by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Buffalo, N.Y. to prepare to testify at the trial of a fellow believer also charged in the case. Three years ago I was found in civil contempt for not testifying, and jailed for 40 days The prosecutor has made it clear that refusal to testify this time could mean substantial time added to my present 27-month sentence.
    Please pray for wisdom and grace as I face these decisions.
    In the meantime, life here at Petersburg has settled into a rhythm. Your prayers have helped my family and me so very much.
    I meet men of all backgrounds. The other day I was introduced to “Fidel” from Cuba. Another gentleman of Eastern European descent said Mother Theresa was his great-great aunt. Thank you for your prayers for these men and all of us poor sinners here.
    God gives us many wonderful glimpses into His goodness. A special blessing has been extra time to observe the bees and butterflies at work among the flowers we planted on the compound and watching our giant sunflowers grow to 11-12 feet. (I’ve never before paid this much attention to the common sunflower!)
    In several places on the prison compound, petunias are growing up through the grass in areas where new soil was hauled in last year. I scavenged a bunch of them and trialed some in a bed. They look like Wave Petunias. “Thank you Lord, they’re just what I was wishing for!” Hopefully we can collect seed (forgive me, Pan American Seed–patent owner) and plant them around the compound next year.
    I’ve recently discovered another one of life’s simple blessings. A heaping teaspoon each of Maxwell House instant coffee, cocoa powder, coffee creamer and a packet of sweetener stirred in with 3-4 oz of hot water from our 205 degree hot water dispenser topped the rest of the way with ice from the ice dispenser makes a mocha worth comparing to anything from Starbucks. I must confess it’s become a daily habit.
    As you can see, my life here isn’t so difficult.
    I’m reading through the Martyrs Mirror right now and am almost ashamed at how nice I have it compared to people in prison back then and many around the world right now.
    On pg. 570-571 there’s a touching account of a young man Algerius, who was executed for his faith by being scalded with hot oil, then burned to ashes at the stake. From his dismal prison dungeon he wrote a letter to his fellow brethren before he died. He testified of the unspeakable joy Christ brought to him in that terrible place. He closed the letter with: “Written in the most delightful pleasure garden of the prison, called Leonia, the 12th of July, A.D. 1557.
    May the Christ he died for
    be
    The Christ we live for!
    Kenneth L Miller 08464-082
    Federal Correctional Complex
    P.O. Box 1000
    Petersburg, VA 23804
    http://www.millercase.org/

    Please write to Ken and give him some encouragement and let the authorities know the world is watching this case.

    David Skinner

  19. Winchester University, UK, is creating an apartheid, or enclave, segregating those who are “out for gays” and by default those who are not. Winchester has signed up to Stonewall, the most powerful gay group in Europe [1]. It has a so- called OUTlist of the names of students, and academics who have “outed” themselves as gay, or allies of gays (including the chancellors). Homosexual Dr Eric Anderson, Professor of Sexualities and Masculinities’, name heads the list [2].

    The Outlist are on Youtube, which is a must watch, where a lesbian student expressed a concern about staff who were not on the list:

    “if you have a lecturer and he or she is not on the list then you automatically maybe think they have an issue with queer people, or maybe it might make you a bit it nervous about going to lesson. You might be a bit less willing to share work if your work has gay themes running through it – like of lot of mine does; .but not seeing them on the list might then make me worry and make me not submit that kind of work” .

    On the video, Dr Eric Anderson also declares emphatically that keeping one’s sexual identity private is an issue. Instead it should be made public. ‘Things that we consider private, are things which we stigmatize – things that we are ashamed of. And as we have a greater awareness of sexual diversity, people coming out the closet, and we are moving to say, “Hey, this is no different to heterosexuals and that we should have the same rights and the same benefits”, we are increasingly saying that sexuality is not an private issue. But the university is also in a position where it desires to be sure that its sexual minority staff and students have a positive experience. How can you measure that if don’t know who your sexual minority staff are?’ [3]

    Dr Anderson is also a signatory to a letter written by the paedophile group, B4U- Act, calling for the de stigmatization of paedophilia and their integration into society.
    If stigma is primarily psychological, then eradicating it may involve psychotherapy to help patients boost self-esteem……If it is more of a social construct, the way to fight it is through awareness campaigns to change public opinion and policies……And if stigma is a moral issue, then it may be necessary to advocate for basic human rights…..” [4]

    Joy Carter the Vice Chancellor, who along with the other chancellors who are on the list, said of Anderson that he is “an internationally renowned gay scholar who publishes widely on sexualities, masculinities, sport and relationships….The University will not tolerate any targeting of its members of staff on the grounds of sexual orientation.” Alan Titchmarsh the Chancellor also said that in spite of the fact that “he was a committed Christian and deplored the professor’s comments, (he) felt it was ‘not justifiable’ to sack someone ‘because their sexual mores differ from one’s own’ [5]

    Essentially Anderson and the LGBTs are demanding that everyone sign up to the Outlist and that if they don’t they should not be at the university, or be discplined, as happened with school children, in California [7].
    [1] Stonewall and Winchester University
    http://www.winchester.ac.uk/aboutus/missionandvalues/partnershipsandaffiliations/Pages/Stonewall.aspx
    [2] The OUTlist
    http://www.winchester.ac.uk/aboutus/missionandvalues/partnershipsandaffiliations/Pages/OUTlist.aspx
    [3] Must watch Outlist Youtube
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0EOWv75214
    [4] B4U-Act’ letter to Harvard University
    http://www.b4uact.org/b4u-act-responds-to-harvard-mental-health-publication/
    [5] “Titchmarsh, a gay lecturer and a row over teenage sex: TV host slams professor who ‘beds youths’” – The Mail,
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2926064/Titchmarsh-gay-lecturer-row-teenage-sex-TV-host-slams-professor-beds-youths.html

  20. I was going to mention these words from the book of Acts chapter 4, verses 23 to 31 and then I realised that one of the commentators above (Kelvin Nairn) has already done mentioned this text. However, it is very relevant for Christians to learn from in our present age:

    Acts 4:23-31King James Version (KJV)

    23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.

    24 And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

    25 Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?

    26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

    27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,

    28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

    29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

    30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

    31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

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