WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, AND WHAT WILL YOU DO?

"God created man in his own image. In God's image He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:27-28)

"You shall not sacrifice any of your children to Moloch; neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a man, as with a woman. That is detestable. You shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it; neither shall any woman give herself to an animal, to lie down with it: it is a perversion." (Leviticus 18:21-23)

"'But no one has done [so] who has a remnant of the Spirit. Why remain united? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce,' says the Lord, the God of Israel." (Malachi 2:15-16a)

"I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries her when she is divorced commits adultery." (Matthew 19:9)

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error." (Romans 1:22-27)

"I wrote to you in my letter to have no company with sexual sinners; yet not at all meaning with the sexual sinners of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; for then you would have to leave the world. But as it is, I wrote to you not to associate with anyone who is called a brother who is a sexual sinner, or covetous, or an idolater, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner. Don't even eat with such a person." (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

Or don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor extortioners, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed. But you were sanctified. But you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and in the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

"But to the married I command – not I, but the Lord – that the wife not leave her husband, but if she departs, let her remain unmarried, or else be reconciled to her husband, and that the husband not leave his wife. But to the rest I – not the Lord – say, if any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is content to live with him, let him not leave her. The woman who has an unbelieving husband, and he is content to live with her, let her not leave her husband." (1 Corinthians 7:10-13)

"Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, 'If you remain in My word, then you are truly My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'" (John 8:31-32)

"Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

Practicing the above beliefs produces strong, healthy families and a growing, productive citizenry. But abandoning these beliefs results in the destruction of families and a shrinking, unproductive citizenry.

America was founded on the above beliefs, and our Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee freedom to exercise such religious beliefs. And yet, many in America have been indoctrinated by secular humanism, have abandoned these beliefs, and are even requiring that the rest of us abandon them.

The elderly, many of whom hold and practice such beliefs, are having their health insurance benefits reduced, have difficulty finding doctors who will provide services, and are being coerced to sign “living wills” that allow doctors to terminate their lives if “they are so ill that treatment costs too much” – a definition that could easily be stretched to threaten the elimination of dissenters or those simply deemed inconvenient. Remember “Soylent Green.”

Millions of Americans are faking total disability so they can collect benefits, but there are thousands of professions they could work at, if society would require they be retrained or else lose their benefits.

Society today does not teach or make and enforce laws stating that men and women are responsible for any children they create, which tacitly encourages such men and women to in effect steal by extorting welfare payments from the rest of society, or to sacrifice such children to abortion at public expense, then abortionists sell those unborn babies' organs for profit.

Tens of millions of Americans are enslaved by dependency, voting for more entitlements, which will eventually diminish or disappear after the secular humanists have seized control and bankrupt society.

So when state surveillance searches Facebook, Twitter or Google for your “old fashioned” beliefs, then demands that you not express them in public or live according to them, what will you do?

Below is the sort of politically-correct “litmus test” we may be subjected to:

Do you believe, or are you affiliated with any religious organization which teaches the following?

All human beings are created in the image of God, and therefore all are endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights to life and liberty, not subject to tyrannical earthly rulers,

All human life is to be preserved from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death, and adults are responsible for their own and their family's well-being,

Marriage is the lifelong union between one man and one woman to bear children and raise a strong, healthy family,

The only reasons for divorce are adultery or an unbelieving spouse abandoning the other, therefore no-fault divorce is impermissible, or

Extorting payments from the state by faking total disability or cohabiting outside marriage and bearing or aborting children is wrong.

If so, then the following penalties will be imposed:

You cannot have any job in the public sector, or you will be fired from such job,

You are not permitted to speak or act upon any such beliefs in the public sphere,

You will be subjected to public shaming and accused of committing hate crimes,

Your personal property and social benefits will be subject to Civil Asset Forfeiture, and

The IRS will revoke the tax exempt status of any such religious organization.

This is the new secular humanist dogma. Much of this is already happening. Now is the time to speak out, to support political candidates and push for laws that affirm your beliefs, before it is too late!

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE, AND WILL YOU ACT ON IT?
(You can download this essay as a PDF by clicking HERE.)

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 18 Jul. 2015.)

You Shall Be Holy, For I Am Holy

In view of the recent U.S. Supreme Court's decision legalizing same-sex "marriage" in all 50 states, we Bible-believing Christians are now becoming fully aware that we are a distinct minority, a counter-culture in U.S. society. For about the first 200 years of U.S. history, from 1776 to 1976, a general Christian consensus held sway. It had begun to erode in the "Roaring Twenties" after WWI when the soldiers came home, and really started to unravel after WWII when returning homosexual soldiers and others formed openly gay communities in San Francisco and other cities. Then came The Pill, no-fault divorce, the sexual revolution and Roe vs. Wade in the 1960s and 70s.

The Christian worldview has been sidelined in the U.S. Immediately after this Supreme Court decision there were calls by a senator and by newspaper columnists to revoke the tax exempt status of church-owned property, tax exemptions for donations to religious organizations, and to limit the First Amendment's guarantee of "freedom of religion" to attendance at worship services, excluding the freedom to express and live out one's faith in society. This is virtually identical to the anti-religious policies of the old USSR! It seems clear that the lighting of the U.S. White House in rainbow colors, these calls to revoke tax exemptions and limit religious freedom required some advance knowledge of the Supreme Court's decision and a great deal of advance planning.

Of course, we must take a strong public stand to protect our rights to practice our faith in society - see "What Do We Do Now?" But also, it's time we as Christians remind ourselves that we are now in the minority and may well lose that battle too. Still, we must not conform to this world's value system, even if it means public shaming, confiscation of property, fines and imprisonment. We Christians are called to be holy, and holiness means to be "set apart" from our surrounding culture that is driven by human lust and passions, as St. Peter wrote:

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ - as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy'" (1 Pet. 1:13-16).

We should realize that it's asking rather much to expect that modern post-Christian pagans ought to act like Christians. But this also means we Christians ought not act like pagans! This means that priests and pastors should exclude from communion those church members who continue to live in open sins such as racial discrimination, lying, gluttony, fornication, alcohol addiction, homosexual unions, thievery, bribery, etc. Christians should live according to the Gospel, or else receive relevant church discipline.

The harmful effects of legalizing and promoting homosexual unions should be obvious to unbiased observers. Several now-adult children raised by same-sex couples have spoken out publicly about their mistreatment as children and their longing to have natural parents, but their feelings were ignored in the recent national debate on this isssue. One such case is this: Jewish Lesbians Give Sex-Changing Hormone Treatment to 11-Year-Old Adopted White Son.

But the long-term effects for society will be the spread of venerial diseases such as HIV-AIDS, as well as the precipitous decline in population - social suicide. It is a known fact that about 30% young men and about 20% of young women sometimes have feelings of same-sex attraction. By legalizing and "normalizing" this behavior, we would be encouraging aproximately 25% of young people to opt out of normal, traditional marriage and child-bearing. This means that each new generation would be about 25% smaller... and smaller... and smaller. Within two or three generations it causes suicide of that society.

As we celebrate this Fourth of July weekend, we must remember those immortal words penned by Thomas Jefferson in the U.S. Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, ...”

After the above word "Happiness" there appears to have been a comma in the original text, not a period. This would significantly change the meaning from "the liberty (freedom) to pursue happiness (pleasure)" as a goal in itself, to the right to live at peace and tranquility, free from excessive state control and repression, as the Declaration of Independence goes on to enumerate. We must continue to stand firm for this God-given right to be free from government interference in the practice of our Christian faith.

In another of his profound blog articles, Fr. Stephen Freeman writes in Male and Female Created He Them the following:

"Despite all social discussion to the contrary, the most irreducible level of our human existence is binary – we exist as male or female. This intuition, stated in the story of creation, has a profound place within the Christian gospel. The story of our salvation is revealed to us in terms that are male and female. Far from being grounded in some antiquated view of humanity, the Christian story, the story of Jesus, is a profoundly human story. It reveals that this most irreducible level of our humanity is neither incidental nor unnecessary. To be human can only be expressed in terms of male and female. Any other account of what it means to be human is a mere abstraction, ignoring the only way we can possibly know ourselves."

I will let you read the rest of this delightful blog post for yourself. The stories of Creation, the Fall, and our Redemption overflow with the richness of our being created in God's image as male and female. The effort to erase this very basic element of our human nature is an effort to erase God our Creator from our national consciousness. Let us not give up the fight, but rather keep up the struggle to proclaim the Good News, the story of our Redemption in Christ!

(Linked to www.Hosken-News.info of 04 Jul. 2015.)