http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/09/10779/?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b0143da7de-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Full_Text_06_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0caba610ac-b0143da7de-397586561

EXTRACT

Indeed, we might say marriage is centrifugal: the center axis of marriage results in the products of the marriage moving away from the center. The concept of kinship reinforces this communal and social understanding of marriage.
...

If we grant kinship’s centrality to marriage, same-sex relationships not only fail as to what constitutes a marriage, but same-sex relationships also fail the kinship test. Redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships enacts a legal fiction that the organic contours of society neither intuitively recognize nor posit. Same-sex marriage does not contribute to the kinship model. If natural marriage bestows life in way that is socially-oriented and centrifugal, then we might say that same-sex marriage is centripetal. In same-sex marriage, the emotional, non-generative unions of adults become the center.

Such relationships are not the type on which society depends. Same-sex marriage not only elevates the desires of adults over the needs of children; it also elevates the desires of adults over the needs of civilization. Same-sex couples have any number of technological advances available that mimic the features of parenting, save one: the capability to create children. Whether through artificial reproductive technology or adoption, same-sex couples who wish to have children must look extra nos, outside themselves and apart from the “one-flesh union” that organically and comprehensively unites man and woman in the marital act.

None of this is to suggest that our neighbors with same-sex attractions are incapable of experiencing the bonds of kinship. All individuals—regardless of sexual desires—are sons or daughters, sisters or brothers, and aunts or uncles, with full rights and responsibilities to pursue the common good. Kinship is simply an extension of the biological good that ennobles marriage’s uniqueness.

Family is the foundation of society; marriage is the foundation of family. Embedded in this simple truth is the overwhelming chorus of families that form nations, a reality that no human ideology like same-sex marriage can overcome.

Chesterton once noted, “The greatest political storm flutters only a fringe of humanity. But an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children literally alter the destiny of nations.”

http://www.charismanews.com/world/40931-how-god-is-moving-in-syria-despite-heart-breaking-persecution

EXTRACT

Charisma News: What do you see God doing in spite of all the persecution and what’s being reported?

Jane: We are now experiencing that this is the best spiritual time for Syria and other countries, like Egypt, because as much as their suffering is great, they are growing. We experience how refugees run away from their places because of the bombing from the government. They came to Damascus and to the churches, and they came to find the truth of the real God.

Many of the Muslim families came to our church, and now our church has 2,000 families of refugees. They told us, “We don’t know if this is the real Islam.” We said, “Yes, this is Islam. This is what they teach in Quran.” They said, “We don’t want to follow Muhammad anymore. We don’t want Islam. We want to know the real God.” So we give them New Testaments, and we follow up with them, have meetings, preach the gospel, and then we give them food. Thank God, we saw how He is moving among those families that before we couldn’t reach because they don’t even know there are Christians in this country. They are covered; it’s very hard. So we thank God, because everything happens because of His goodness.

Reconciliation of "all things" through Christ

What exactly does God reconcile when He sent His Son to die on the cross. Traditional theological thinking tells us that God is reconciled with mankind through the cross. In this article, I would like to question whether mankind the only subject of reconciliation?

"15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Col 1:15-20 NIV)

It is clear from this passage that Jesus is the agent and the motivation for creation for "all things have been created through him and for him". "all things" in this context would seem to mean everything in heaven and on earth, which includes "visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities". It is unclear whether this list is exhaustive. What is clear is that “all things” would mean creation.

What is interesting is v 19-20, which says that  "all things" are reconciled to Himself through Christ, by making peace through His blood shed on the cross.

I think it is clear then that creation is reconciled to God through Christ by making peace through His blood. What then is our human responsibility in what Jesus Christ is doing? Is there any role for us at all?

The cultural mandate given to us in Genesis 1:28 is God's divine injunction on mankind to rule, subdue and fill the earth.

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen 1:28 KJV)

This mandate does not seem to be specifically addressed to Christians only. It would apply equally to the unredeemed and Christians alike. How then should we, as the redeemed people of God exercise this mandate?

The cultural mandate given by God enables us to find meaning in our work and vocation, may it be in law, medicine, business, arts, media etc, for God's commandmant in Gen 1:28 to Adam and Eve was a commandmant for them to work in God's creation. As part of God's Kingdom here on earth, how do we "reign on earth" by serving God? Do we do so by establishing theocracies on earth or do we wrestle against authorities for political power? 

Rev 1:6 says that we are saved to be a kingdom and priests to serve God. Rev 5:10 says that we, the kingdom and priests are to reign on earth. How do we "reign on earth"? How do these verses relate to the cultural mandate?

Establishing dominion over earth by establish theocracies do not seem to be a commandmant given to Christians on the basis of these verses. I prefer to think that our command to "reign on earth" ties back to the cultural mandate given by God for us to have "dominion" over creation. We are to "reign on earth" by being God's kingdom and priests. A kingdom presents God to creation. A priest presents creation to God. We are called to "reign on earth" as a kingdom and priests in whichever vocation we are called into. 

Just as we are reconciled with Christ by the blood, let us reign on earth as a kingdom and priests by being part of Christ's reconciliation of His creation here on earth. This is a call for Christians to not hide in our churches and be withdrawn from the world. It is a call for to actively engage culture in whichever vocation that God placed us in. The goal therefore is so that "earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the see" (Habakkuk 2:14 ESV)


As citizens of a democracy with a stake in a nation, are we similarly called to engage with culture in influencing policies that will affect a nation's well-being?



If we are indeed a kingdom and priests to reign on earth in service to God, it is difficult to disagree with the notion that cultural engagement in the area of policy-making is something that all Christian citizens must do in the present age. 

Lincoln Brewster - The Power of Your Name

The Bible and Abortion in Singapore

Abortion is one of the most morally controversial issues of our time. It is bound to provoke strong reactions from both sides of the debate, who are often referred to as "pro-life" or "pro-choice". Pro-lifers argue that abortion should be banned in most cases because the unborn child is entitled to his or her right to live. On the other hand, pro-choicers support the legalisation of abortion, taking the view that a woman has a right to freely choose to do whatever she wants with her body.

Does the Bible have anything to say here?

What does the Bible say about abortion?

One atheist writer claims that "the Bible doesn’t say anything specifically about abortion". On one level, he is right. A search for "abortion" on websites like BibleGateway.com will not show up with a particular verse in the Bible specifically addressing the topic.

However, on that count, the Bible does not say anything "specifically" about a lot of things, including smoking, drugs, nuclear weapons, and a whole host of other morally controversial issues. We need to dig deeper.

There are two important questions we need to ask when approaching the topic of abortion. Philosopher and theologian William Lane Craig, who is one of the leading apologists of our time, phrased the two important questions as follows:

1. Do human beings possess intrinsic moral value?  
2. Is the developing foetus a human being?

The Bible makes it clear from the beginning that all human beings possess intrinsic moral value as bearers of the image of God (Imago Dei). All of humankind, both male and female, are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; 9:6). This is the reason why God commanded, "You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13).

There are numerous passages in the Bible which affirm the humanity of the developing foetus. One of the most powerful passages is King David's psalm, Psalm 139:

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
(Psalm 139:14-16)

Other passages include Genesis 25:22, Isaiah 49:1, Jeremiah 1:4-5 and Luke 1:44.

One interesting passage is Exodus 21:

If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [OR has a miscarriage] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman's husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:22-25)

The word used in the text, translated "gives birth prematurely" or "miscarriage", is the Hebrew word yatsah, which could refer to a premature but live birth. The word translated "serious injury" could refer to anything from death to a sore finger, as is clear from the following verses which mention anything from "life" to a "bruise". Therefore, John A. Eidsmoe, in "A Biblical View of Abortion" (1984) 4 J. Christian Jurisprudence 17, explains the meaning of the passage as follows:

If men are involved in a fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she delivers her child prematurely, but there is no injury to the mother or child, the husband is to be compensated only for his time, expenses, inconvenience, etc., and perhaps pain and suffering as well. But if the mother or child is injured, as a result, or if either die as a result, the lex talionis or law of like punishment applies: eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life.

Since human beings possess intrinsic moral value, and the developing foetus a human being, it follows that abortion is murder. Christians throughout the ages have condemned abortion as a terrible evil. In one of the earliest Christian teachings, the Didache, the early Church wrote "you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born". In 2003, the American Southern Baptist Convention repented of its earlier support for abortion, praying and working "for the day when the act of abortion will be not only illegal, but also unthinkable."

Abortion in Singapore: 12,000 abortions per year, one in four babies killed

Abortion was liberalised in Singapore in 1969. Before 1969, abortion was only permitted if it was done "in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman". Moving the Abortion Bill in Parliament, then-Minister for Health, Chua Sian Chin, argued that the liberalisation of abortion was meant "to promote the well-being of the woman and to avoid impairment of her health, in the interests of humanity and human progress."

Currently, under the Termination of Pregnancy Act, abortion is allowed for any reason whatsoever up to 24 weeks of the pregnancy. Thereafter, abortion is only allowed if it is "immediately necessary to save the life or to prevent grave permanent injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman".

The Ministry of Health gives the following statistics on abortion in recent years:

Year	Total number of abortions carried out
2003	12272
2004	12070
2005	11482
2006	12032
2007	11933
2008	12222
2009	12318
2010	12082
2011	11940
2012	10624

There are approximately 12,000 abortions per year. This means that one in four babies is killed before birth.

To call this a tragedy would be a massive understatement.

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves"

Abortion is one of the greatest evils of our time. The Bible makes it clear that all human beings, whether before or after birth, are made in the image of God and therefore have intrinsic moral value. 

As Christians, we are called to be the voice of the voiceless, and to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. 12,000 unborn children are killed every year. Their only "crime" was to have been conceived. 

Will you be their voice?

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
(Proverbs 31:8)

Hearing from God: Abraham vs Lot

http://defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog/?p=4987

EXTRACT:

Lot was upset with the sin of Sodom, but that was not enough to hear from God. Just like today, there are many, who are upset with the sin of America, but that is not enough to hear from God about judgment. The problem was Lot living in Sodom and unknowingly becoming part of it. He was drawn to Sodom because of its wealth and lifestyle. He made a conscious decision to be part of Sodom. By doing this, he blocked hearing God’s voice and warning, which led to disastrous consequences for him and his family.

Does God bless those who bless Israel?

"I will bless those who bless you,

    and whoever curses you I will curse;

and all peoples on earth

    will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:3 NIV)

Some Christians do not take Genesis 12:3 literally. Some do, but do not see Abraham's nation in Genesis 12 as the political Israel we see today. I believe that God's Word is simple, straightforward and true. God will bless those who blesses Abraham's nation, which was inherited by Jacob according to Genesis 35:11-12. 

11 And God said to him, “I am God Almighty[a]; be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will be among your descendants.12 The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you.” (Genesis 35:11-12)

God's statement unequivocally affirm that the divine promises given to Abraham and Jacob is not inherited by Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel in the same chapter. Therefore, if Jacob is heir to the promises to Abraham in Genesis 12, it flows that the spiritual principle in Gen 12:3 will apply today, with the Jews as the reference point since the Jews are descendants of Jacob, now Israel.

Much has been argued about US's prosperity being linked to their alliance with Israel, with Singapore's prosperity being explained the same way. It is also argued that Britain's downfall as a colonial power related to their barring of Jews from returning to their homeland in 1940, sending many of them back to face concentration camps in Europe. Does this spiritual principle explain China's rise as a global superpower today?

I was prompted by the Holy Spirit one day to look up China's phenomenal GDP growth, and see if there was any correlation between that and China-Israeli diplomatic relations.

I was not expecting what I found. These figures are taken from China Statistical Study 2012. 

Let us first look at China's GDP from 1979-1992.

Let us now look at China's GDP from 1993-2012

A clear picture may be seen from the China's GDP growth chart. 

We can see that growth started to pick up from 1984. However, the tremendous growth from 1992 was off the charts. What happened between China and Israel in 1992? 1992 was the landmark year where China-Israeli diplomatic relations were restored. Since then, there were military and economic cooperation between the two countries until today.

Is this coincidence? Nah, I just believe the Bible to be simple, straightforward and true.