Salt Shakers Journal Summary October 2008

Editorial (full editorial below)
The editorial counters the view of being nice and ‘not judging’ that seems to be prevalent in much of the church – and the world – today.

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“Enough!”...
Dr Arthur Hartwig addresses the question ‘When is enough – enough?’ He addresses the changes of behaviour that should be evident in a Christian’s life and contrasts the notion that we want our whims indulged to the reality of the Christian faith.

Child abuse...
Statistics on child abuse in Australia – and information about National Child Protection Week.

News & Action...
Medicare funding of abortion, Western Australian election, Civil Partnerships in the ACT, IVF and surrogacy in Victoria and the Assisted Suicide Bill in Victoria.

Homophobia, churches and VCAT…
Another complaint of ‘discrimination’ against a Christian group. This time a homosexual group has taken a case against Phillip Island Adventure resort, a campsite run by Christian Youth Camps. Why? The Christian group said they would not accept a booking from the group which wanted to discuss homophobia at their camp.

Abortion in Victoria…
Update on the Abortion Bill – the Bill is currently in the Legislative Council – more action needed!

Technology in teenagers’ bedrooms...
Effects of technology in bedrooms – report on the effects on sleep and blood pressure. Online games are also a concern.

Readers’ letters...
Readers letters in print in the media.

Is ‘Global Warming’ a Christian issue?...
Murray Adamthwaite considers the issue from a Christian perspective – what are the underlying issues relating to global warming and how can Christians respond?

Same-sex couple rights...
The Senate has conducted an Inquiry into same-sex couple rights. Legislation to change 68 laws is now before the parliament. The Rudd government, as we reported prior to the 2007 election, is committed to ‘removing discrimination’ in this area.

Prayer Update...
Prayer request for those in ministry. Including a discussion of the recent situations regarding Mike Guglielmucci and Todd Bentley.

Postage stamps and Marie Stopes...
Marie Stopes was at the forefront of the eugenics movement and the promotion of birth control in the UK. Now she has been honoured on a UK stamp for her contribution to ‘family planning’. Jenny Stokes analyses the situation: Who is she, what did she do and what impact has she had?

Islam: Terror trials and mosques...
Report on the terror trials of Muslim men in Melbourne and Sydney. In Melbourne the leader of the group, Abdul Nacer Benbrika, was found guilty of terrorism related offences, along with six of his followers. Four were acquitted. In Sydney Belal Khazaal was found guilty of producing a manual for jihad “knowing it was connected with assisting in a terrorist act”.

Hindus, Yoga and Christian churches...
In the UK, two Christian churches banned yoga classes in their churches. In response, the Hindu Council of Britain threatened to take legal action because of ‘discrimination’.

World News...
* Sweden – dads and weddings;
* California bans the terms ‘bride’ and ‘groom’ on the marriage certificate – it now says ‘party A’ and ‘Party B’.
* USA election report
* Political correctness in Europe – European Parliament warns advertisers against ‘sexual stereotyping’.
* USA - Adult stem cell research – Pentagon gives money for research.

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Editorial – in full

There was once a common phrase, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. The only time you seem to hear it today is when it is used to advertise 4 wheel drive vehicles that rarely go onto the tough stuff!

Certainly it seems to have been replaced in much of today’s Western Church with the phrase, “when the going gets tough be nice, don’t judge, and warm the pews.”

Unfortunately, this is also happening now in the battle against immoral political legislation. Rather than take a strong stand against evils like abortion and homosexual normalisation we are told to be nice, negotiate and even compromise.

As we have commented before, some have redefined ‘justice’ to give rights and benefits to people who choose to live in immoral lifestyles. Other Christians have suggested that the killing of unborn children is warranted, even acceptable, “in some circumstances” and that there is a ‘increasing immorality’ regarding abortion as the unborn baby develops. Thus it is less immoral to abort a first trimester baby than a third trimester baby. This was the basis of the recent Melbourne Anglican submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission on abortion.

A pastor told me last year that it was wrong to put pictures of the developing unborn baby in the newspaper because it might offend someone who had had an abortion!

It seems that the church will do anything but take a strong, definitive, and uncompromising stand on moral issues because that might be seen as ‘confronting’.

We were recently told that our presence at a meeting at the Victorian parliament might be “problematic”. One untiring female pro-life advocate of long standing turned up to the meeting at the invitation of a conservative MP and was duly escorted out of the building!

Yet a number of MPs have shared with us their concern at this compromise ‘tactic’ as it undermines their ability to hold a strong stand within the Parliament.

They believe the best tactic is for the church to stand solidly on Biblical grounds, rather than attempt to play politics outside the parliament.

They may decide to move amendments within the parliament and we can help them with those in an attempt to contain the damage but they would then vote against the Bill at its final reading anyway.

Even this ‘tactic’ could have the adverse consequence of encouraging some MPs who oppose the original Bill to actually support the amended Bill – the end result being that the bad law passes.

It is not easy being a Christian politician, but it is made a lot harder when those outside parliament, who should say ‘No’, compromise God’s truth.

MPs who support immoral legislation need to know that the consequences of that legislation lie firmly with them.

As we read in Matthew 5 Jesus said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one”. Again in James 5 we read, “Let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No” no, or you will be condemned.” Both are strong and decisive warnings about what you do when you do not stand firmly and uncompromisingly on the Word of God.

As the going gets tougher, and we know it will, resorting to a weak, feel good, political advocacy will not help anyone.

Yours in Christ Jesus
Peter & Jenny Stokes