December 2008 Journal Summary

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Editorial (full version below)
Are you ready to 'live the revolution' in 2009? It won't be easy - it could well cost you more than you ever thought being a Christian in Australia would ever cost. But those words 'choose this day whom you will serve' are getting louder and louder.

English Law and Religious Law: Synergy or Conflict?
Mark Mullins (a lawyer and barrister in the UK) looks to legal history and the synergy between early legal and religious law.

Sex on TV and teen pregnancy
A new study has found that adolescents who watch a lot of TV shows containing a high amount of sexual activity are TWICE as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows.

News and Action
SA - Cloning; IVF - Victoria; Federal - same-sex laws; Californication

Fertility Rate Rises
The fertility rate in Australia has risen to its highest level for 25 years. It is now 1.93 babies per woman - an increase from 1.81 in 2006.

Families in Australia
The majority of all families with children in Australia are couple families - in 2006-2007, 2.6 million, or 80% were couple families and 20% were one parent families.

Politics- getting involved
Peter and Jenny Stokes challenge us to get involved in the political process at a grass roots level and be the change we wish to see.

AHRC: Freedom of [from?] Religion
Last month we told you about the disturbing Inquiry being conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), called Freedom of Religion and Belief in the 21st century. They've published a Discussion Paper that outlines the aims of the Inquiry.

Transsexualism
Ken McGuire examines the issue of transsexualism and the record of the medical profession in dealing with it in the recent past. Part 1 of a three part series.

Falling Markets and Falling Values
Jeremy Peet looks at the economic crisis and the ideology that brought us to this place.

Interfaith Dialogue
The Vatican and the United Nations hosted major interfaith meetings last month.

Inspiration for a Leader
Jenny Stokes looks back on a year of Kevin Rudd's leadership and examines his key decisions and influences.

UK: Islam and Sharia Law
Jenny Stokes reports on the recent decision of the British Government to allow Muslims to use shari'a law (Islamic law) in resolving items such as divorce and other personal matters.

World News
USA election - Barack Obama; UK: Scouts and sex; The pregnant [wo]man is back.

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Editorial (full version)

Are you ready to 'live the revolution' in 2009? It won't be easy - it could well cost you more than you ever thought being a Christian in Australia would ever cost. But those words 'choose this day whom you will serve' are getting louder and louder.

We need to get ready to be revolutionary, because we are increasingly living "In a time of universal deceit [where] telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

Postmodernism, which says there is no such thing as truth, has invaded the world. Sadly, a growing number of Christians are finding it easier to go with the flow rather than swim against the tide and proclaim the truth. As Christmas approaches will we proclaim the Christ born of the virgin as the Son of God or one of many postmodern alternatives?

A few months ago we wrote about the watering down of morality, but, even worse still is the growing number of Christians who are watering down the Word, the Word become flesh, Jesus Christ himself.

No doubt everyone has heard of John Shelby Spong, the retired Espiscopalian heretic who does not believe in the virgin birth or the resurrection of Christ. He calls for a "fundamental rethinking of Christian belief, away from theism and from the afterlife as reward or punishment for human behaviour". He questions most of the very tenets of Christian faith. Unfortunately, he is far from alone in his heretical views as we have seen from the proclamations of Francis Macnab in Melbourne this year. He actually seems determined to out-spong Spong. However, his obscure views are not new. He stated back in 1999 "I cannot see any good in the doctrine, [of original sin] any more than I can see it in the doctrine of guilt and repentance".

When he launched his "new faith" recently, many in his own church were upset. McNab responded "Some said I shouldn't be allowed to be here anymore and that I should be drummed out of town. I would expect that kind of reaction from people who take the scriptures far too literally."

Yes, that is the trouble today, we must not take anything too literally, even God's Word. That is why a Muslim Imam can stand in front of Christians at the 'National Prayer Breakfast' and get a standing ovation for saying that Islam had been misinterpreted and that it is a forgiving religion.

Too many Christians find it easier to believe that than face the reality that Islam is a false 'religion' which denies the death and resurrection of Jesus. Islam wants to dominate the world, by peaceful submission if it can but by force if it has to.

Such is the world in 2008 and will increasingly be in 2009. The desire to be popular, to be cool, to be tolerant and to be nice is appealing, but truth is far more important than being appealing. The broad, accommodating road leads only to hell, to eternal separation from God.

Christ alone offers us eternal life through FAITH in Him and through our repentance of sin. Joshua 24:14-15 (paraphrased) says, "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped..., and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve... but as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and New Year.
Peter & Jenny Stokes