Speak now, or forever hold your peace
“Marriage is the exclusive union between a man and a woman.”
“It wasn’t so long ago that making a statement like this wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow. In fact, if you’d said this, most people would have responded with a ‘Yes, and?’. It would be liking stating that the sky is blue, or the Australian cricket team had been disappointing.
Today in Australia, this is perhaps the most controversial statements you can make…”
– At Communicate Jesus, Steve Kryger pleads with Christian leaders to actually lead Christians in responding to the challenge of same-sex marriage.
‘Will the same-sex marriage push destroy the right of churches to dissent?’
“This raises the question about the real ideology of the same-sex marriage campaign. Is it merely to allow gays to marry? Or is its ultimate purpose to impose ‘marriage equality’ across the entire society, civil and religious. Ideologies do not normally stop at the halfway mark…”
– Andrew Bolt at The Herald-Sun quotes from an important article by Paul Kelly in The Australian (which requires a subscription to read in full).
Same-sex marriage: Coalition MPs to co-sponsor private member’s bill
“Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reminded Coalition MPs it is rare for a private member’s bill to even go to a vote in Parliament, as two of his backbenchers prepare to back a bill to legalise same-sex marriage.
Queensland Liberal National Party (LNP) MPs Warren Entsch and Teresa Gambaro will co-sponsor a private member’s bill, which will be seconded by Labor backbencher Terri Butler…”
– report from ABC News.
The Anglican Future Conference — A Report
A report by Rev Caitlin Hurley, ACL councillor.
In late March, 460 Anglicans gathered in Melbourne for the inaugural Anglican Future Conference.
The conference was a joint initiative of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Australia (FCA-A) and the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC). Read more
Church and religious leaders send letter on Same-Sex Marriage to Prime Minister Abbott
“Archbishop Glenn Davies has joined other church and religious leaders in signing an open letter to the Prime Minister against same-sex marriage.
Parliament could take steps to redefine marriage as early as August.
The letter, signed by Dr Davies and the Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher as well as 36 other religious leaders including the heads of Pentecostal and orthodox churches as well as senior rabbis from the Jewish community and leaders from both the Sunni and Shia Islamic communities, expresses ‘grave concerns’ regarding ‘Bills that have or will be introduced into the Federal Parliament to change the definition of marriage in Australian law’.…
It ends with a request for a meeting with the Prime Minister and MP’s to further discuss the issue.”
– read the full report at SydneyAnglicans.net – and please be encouraged to pray about this matter.
and a Media Release from Catholic Communications.
Call for coalition to vote as one on marriage
Here’s a media release from the Australian Christian Lobby –
“The Australian Christian Lobby today renewed its call on the Liberal party to stand by its principled policy on marriage by continuing to vote as one on the issue…” – Read it all on their website.
Churches defend traditional meaning of marriage — NSW Council of Churches
“Changing the meaning of marriage would be a vast, risky social experiment. Children have the right to know and be cared for by their natural parents. The law should reflect and promote best practice.
Amid the emotion and hype, principled arguments in favour of retaining the current definition of marriage in Australian law deserve the consideration of every federal politician…”
– Dr Ross Clifford, President of the NSW Council of Churches in a media release.
Australia’s businesses take out full-page ad backing ‘marriage equality’
“Some of Australia’s biggest businesses have thrown their weight behind the push for gay marriage, with a full-page newspaper advertisement today.
Corporations including Google, Qantas, Optus and the ANZ and Commonwealth banks have put their names to a list of Australian businesses backing marriage equality…” – ABC News report.
Marriage
David Cook, Moderator-General of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, has written an important piece on Marriage. Here’s a quote:
“None of us expected that in our lives we would have to stand solidly with the apostles and declare, ‘we must obey God rather than men’.”
Take the time to read the full text:
On my recent trip to Malaysia, I was asked to expound Romans 13:1-7, the attitude of the Christian to the civil ruler.
The Bible makes it clear that all “superior” authority, like that of Government, is derived from the supreme authority, God Himself, who establishes and institutes such authority.
For the Christian, the State will have a limited jurisdiction, like Moses’ mother, the midwives of Egypt, Daniel, the apostles and the Lord Jesus, we will respectfully submit to the State until it oversteps the boundary set by God. “We must obey God rather than men” Acts 5:29.
There are many issues which may be “disputable” in our relationship with governments, but the proposed change to the Marriage Act is not one of them.
The Marriage Act of 1961, amended in 2004 defines marriage as “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”.
This is a perfectly good reflection of Genesis 2:24, “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”.
The Lord Jesus ratifies this definition of marriage in Matthew 19:5-6 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one. Therefore, what God has joined together let not man separate.”
Everything which the apostle Paul says of marriage in 1 Corinthians 7 is based on the premise that marriage is between a man and a woman. Some may say that this is just the writing of Paul, a mere man, but remember, just as the resurrection of Jesus declares His deity (Romans 1:4) so the resurrection of Jesus ratifies Paul’s authentic apostleship (Galatians 1:1).
The question of same sex marriage will not go away, I suspect that our politicians will treat the issue as unresolved until the Marriage Act is amended. Such amendment will not foster stronger family life, children will be denied both a mother and a father, surrogate parenting will become more common, inevitably those who hold a contrary position will be treated with intolerance, being accused of being homophobic, simply for having a moral conviction that homosexual practise is contrary to God’s will.
The fact that the Republic of Ireland has recently voted for same sex marriage, does not mean that our nation’s leaders have to unquestioningly follow such a poor example. On such a fundamental change to the foundation of our society, why shouldn’t the people have the opportunity to express their mind in a referendum?
The question that Presbyterian ministers must face is, as registered marriage celebrants, are we prepared to continue to operate under an Act which unacceptably redefines marriage?
The Church and Nation Committee has discussed this issue, our political leaders need to face the reality that a redefining of the Marriage Act will be seen by many Christian celebrants as an affront to the supreme authority of God and will lead to a massive reduction in celebrants’ availability to operate under such a compromised Act.
None of us expected that in our lives we would have to stand solidly with the apostles and declare, “we must obey God rather than men”.
David Cook.
– Source, The Moderator’s Comments, 28 May 2015.
Why Australia should not rush to follow Ireland
“So many questions, so little free debate. …
Changing the definition of marriage has far reaching consequences. It is time to press pause and think again.”
– The Australian Christian Lobby raises a number of questions in the midst of a push for same sex marriage in Australia.
Bill Shorten to introduce private members bill to legalise ‘same-sex marriage’
“Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has confirmed Labor will move a bill to legalise same-sex marriage next week. …
In a statement, Mr Shorten said the time had come for Parliament to debate marriage equality and that he found it unacceptable current laws excluded some individuals.”
– Report from ABC News. (Photo: billshorten.com.au)
Update: The Australian Christian Lobby has issued this media release –
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten’s same-sex marriage bill fails to consider the consequences of changing the definition of marriage in law, according the Australian Christian Lobby.
“It is disappointing that Australia’s alternative prime minister is legislating a family structure which requires a child to miss out on their mum or dad.
“Many Australians are watching with great concern as florists, photographers and cake makers in other countries are being legally punished simply because they prefer not to participate in a same-sex wedding.
“I wonder if Mr Shorten has considered the consequences of changing the definition of marriage,” Mr Shelton said.
“We urge parliamentarians to vote against the bill.”
Praying for Nungalinya College
Nungalinya, the Combined Churches Training College for Indigenous Australians in Darwin, has posted their 2014 Annual Report online.
Grab the 3.6MB PDF file here. Fuel for prayer.
Charles Simeon and his enduring influence on Australia
This year’s Moore College Library Day looks at the influence of Charles Simeon. It’s on Saturday 23rd May. Read the details and register for the day.
Katherine Christian Convention this weekend
The Katherine Christian Convention is on this weekend, Saturday 2nd to Monday 4th May. It’s a significant gathering in the Top End.
Please uphold in prayer the attendees, the organisers, and the speaker, as many are travelling long distances.
Nungalinya College seeks funding for iPads
Nungalinya College in Darwin is seeking funds to purchase 20 iPads to help indigenous students in their studies.
Learn more about the project, and how you can contribute, here.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…