SOME GOOD NEWS!

After the dismal report I gave you last Sunday, today is a time for some good news, especially as we are celebrating the ultimate Good News this week. This past week Trinity Western University (TWU) was been granted status as a Law School.

This is no mean feat. The opposition from other law schools has been monolithic. How can graduates from a faith-based school that prohibits sexual liaisons of its faculty and students outside of heterosexual marriage ever be impartial?

This, of course, ignores the basic assumptions of any law student or faculty based on unprovable religious or non religious beliefs, always based on faith. If non-belief can claim impartiality, so can Christian belief—perhaps to a greater extent by recognizing the value of every person.

The welcoming arms of Jesus to all for reconciliation with God are the basis of equality under the law in western nations. Equality solely based on the flagging generosity of “decent” but flawed human beings eventually fails, just as a culture devoid of the true God deteriorates.

We can all rejoice with this initial victory—there will be further challenges ahead—for it is a victory for all of us. Let us rejoice with TWU this Christmas as we remember again the humble generosity of the One to whom every knee will bow.

We will wrap up this year’s blogs on this note. Not certain yet how I’ll handle my 2014 blogs But in the meantime, Ann and I pray for a blessed Christmas and God’s richest blessing for you and your families in the coming year.

Bryan

The West: Death Becomes Her

Can we measure the west’s decline? Let me count the ways. Several developments over the past week in relation to death and sexuality have provided a gauge of the decreasing value of life in western nations.

Although a growing loss of Christian faith and values preceded it, the acceptance of abortion in most western nations starkly marked the beginning of western decline. One bright spot this week was the European Union’s refusal to consider abortion a human right.

But that victory was narrow, and may be only a flickering light in the encroaching darkness. The disposal of babies surviving abortions is a step towards infanticide. By withholding personhood from a newborn until about age two would extend, beyond the womb, the period where parents could discard the child. Peter Singer, together with other ethicists, actively debated this idea.

But back to this week. Holland, the cradle of a widening group permitted euthanasia—which has given rise to widespread abuse—has extended the practice of euthanasia to children, adding greater danger to the least defenceless of us.

Last May, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), released the Fifth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Only this week it has come to public awareness, that in this first new edition in 10 years, the APA described pedophilia as a “sexual orientation.”

This parallels pedophilia with homosexuality, the latter now generally accepted as a permissible sexual orientation. But the suggested acceptance of the preferences of “minor-attracted persons,” praised by B4U-ACT, a pedophiliac support program, places underage children at risk for seduction and sexually transmitted diseases.

While the APA responded that the phraseology was “an error,” it will remain in their manual for perhaps another decade fostering continuing discussion of its legitimacy.

It is not rocket science to recognize the creeping culture of death in western “civilization.” It targets the totally vulnerable unborn first, then progresses to the most vulnerable—the aged, infirm and children. Yet criminals, notably murderers, continue to have protection from the death penalty.

The deepening loss of the value of human life parallels the widening acceptance of sexual practices. Both lead to untimely deaths, from humans who are able to dispose of their counterparts, and from sexually transmitted diseases responding to unnatural sexual liaisons.

The Christian roots of law in the west with its sanctity of life approach, has traditionally ensured the protection of all human life, including the unborn. I am not aware of any other religion, philosophy of life, or national structure, which has ever provided this.

By shedding Christian beliefs, our liberal democracies are leading us into a menacing dark age where human life has lost its inviolable status and all human life will be at risk. We have dispensed with the Source of life.

So the words of Scripture become increasingly relevant: “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” John 1:4-5.

Where Equaltiy Doesn't Work

Does women’s equality with men threaten the fabric of our society? Surely not. Human equality is a foremost claim of Scripture, and our secular culture has increasingly majored on this since women gained the vote. Even differing roles for the sexes do not undercut equal value.

In fact, ignoring one traditional distinction between women and men leads to a major problem: not whether women should be in the workplace or men in the home or similar issues, but the traditional differing attitude to sexuality.

Men are generally the initiators of sexual liaisons to which women respond—where women have that freedom. There is no female equivalent of “womanizer.” The continuing presence of prostitution is a response to the demands of men, not the desire of women.

Rather, women naturally seek security and shelter from a man, using their ability to attract a man by the “tender trap.” But men, usually the predators in society, carry the first responsibility for destroying the designed function for the sexes in procreation and family security.

However, in the early days of radical feminism, women sought equality by striving to subjugate or replace men—even trying to be men. Women, so “liberated,” now used their “freedom” to instigate sexual encounters, giving rise to a growing segment of “cougars.”

This perceived sexual equality reverses women’s choice to say “no,” the final line of defence for a culture’s morality. Women who indulge in this practice advance a descent into moral anarchy and the fracturing of families; the glue of society.

Eve committed the first sin, but Adam’s participation in it made him complicit. In an ironic reversal of fortunes, men generally initiate entry into illicit sexuality, but women become complicit when they consent to it—even more so when they provoke it.

Women predators are normally in the minority, occasionally referred to in the Bible. Scripture frequently depicts Israel as one by her unfaithfulness to God; Proverbs speaks of the seductive adulteress, Proverbs 5:3–6, and we can recall Potiphar’s wife.

But the growing sector of women sexual predators in our culture begins to upset the balance of enduring monogamy and caring for children of the marriage union. Children become an unfortunate by-product of sexual recreation, leading to widespread abortion and disturbed children.

God has provided a partnership in marriage that brings strength to a community. Women offer a stabilizing influence to a community when they a draw men into an enduring, faithful union.

Why Am I a Christian?

I am not naturally religious. I easily identify with the atheist who considers the world’s immense suffering gives little evidence of a superior being, or the postmodernist who sees Christianity as one religion among many, and adapts or invents one according to personal logic.

Or, like the secularist, it is easy to accept that some higher power brought the world into being, but life generally belies the fact that God is still involved in our sorry state. Then I’d be a practical atheist—believing in God but living as though He didn’t exist.

So why am I a Christian? Those who lack the experience of a Christian home may inherit a scepticism that inoculates them from considering Christ’s claims. I grew up in a Christian home that gave me a view of Christianity from the inside and I lacked the disadvantage of the popular critical view.

Eventually, I discovered the Bible carried its own authority and gave the only meaningful explanation of life as we know it. Further, it squarely faces the problem of evil and provides a remedy, for its cause and its cure. All other philosophies pale in comparison.

But emotion still played a part. At ten years of age, the crucifixion of Christ impressed on me the depth of God’s love compelling me to decide for Him. The advancing years have proved the Bible’s wisdom and authenticity.

Today, happily married for fifty eight years, I enjoy the companionship of a close and growing family, a continuing purposeful life and confidence for the future, here and hereafter. I place my gratitude firmly in God who drew me into His family and His legacy of wisdom for life.

Adultery: Pleasure or Misery

Why dabble in adultery?

Adultery is often a drug to cover anger or emptiness, to escape the challenges of home life—pleasure without the accompanying worries, and sexual fulfilment, like alcohol, usually provides some relief and pleasure.

But Proverbs (5:3–4) suggests what is sweet to the taste can become sour in the stomach. Nathan predicted David’s moments of pleasure would lead to a lifetime of distress, for himself and his family (2 Samuel 12:9–10).

It may not be possible to follow a lifetime of the causes and effects of adultery. But it’s easy to forecast hostility resulting from infidelity: anger, loss of trust, and the pain of betrayal.

Further, a variety of attitudes by an adulterous husband—or wife in today’s free and equal culture—from outright denial or excuses to utter remorse and self-reproach can only add to the conflict, and the affair might still drag on after discovery.

Even if it doesn’t, a wife’s loss can trigger a prolonged period of mourning countered by the impatience of the husband. Without reconciliation, the marriage may break up, or continue an uneasy co-existence, the wife using guilt to hold the husband hostage.

Infidelity creates a near death experience for a marriage, yet many marriages survive and become meaningful for both partners again. Most of David’s life is a remarkable record of his source of survival; he never lost his confidence in God in the midst of adversity

David’s psalms are the legacy of his victories for us in times of difficulty. David found pardon in the grace of God’s forgiveness and protection, although still facing the consequences of his sin. David’s example can bring both comfort and strength to continue through adversity.

David’s brief fling resulted in a lifetime of family conflict. Too often, the continuing depth of pain and misery of a broken marriage causes us to retreat from God. But as David found, God is our ultimate source of strength when we need Him the most.