We are witnessing the constriction of Christian speech and the criminalizing of Christian ministry. The Bible clearly condemns homosexual behaviors, and the Christian church has been clear about this teaching for twenty centuries. But now, the statement that homosexuality is a sin can land a preacher in jail.
To read the complete news article click on title.
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This is not the first article regarding Christian rights to free speech being violated by the government. Each year, we as believers, loose more and more freedoms when it comes to expressing our love for our Lord Jesus Christ. This incident where the preacher was explaining that homosexuality was a sin before God's eyes is just the tip of the iceberg. The government has banned us from praying in pubic, now we can't even witness to the unsaved world without the fear of arrest.
Now is the time for all Christians to come together and start voicing their opinions regarding the politicians and judges that are put into public office. Let us all pray to the Almighty and most Powerful and only True God there is...the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God bless, Lloyd
7 comments:
Thank you for sharing this story. It is awful, but unfortunately, I'm sure we will be hearing many, many before the end comes. Blessings
It's sad when people have no more fear of God. Or don't believe in Him in the first place. That's why this has to happen. Thinking they're smart in their own ways, without realizing that the "smartness" is only foolishness to God. Blessings to you.
We need to pray more for the country.
I find it sad when Christians want to believe they are an oppressed minority. It is a kind of inverted pride really. The man was arrested for a public order offence. He was NOT arrested for preaching his views on homosexuality. I know many in the Christian press (alas not particularly good at upholding the Commandment 'Thou Shalt Not Bear false Witness') like to twist a story to illicit sympathy. But this is just reactionary gumph - no one in Britain would go to gaol for preaching their views on homosexuality.
It kinda sadden me that with whole Bible to choose from an individual decides to focus on 3 or 4 verses that are divisive and often preached just to cause controversy or play the cheap morality card. Someone preaching atop of a step-ladder is probably more concerned about glorying in the sound of their own voice than the Bible anyway. Whatever, it is a daft story that hasn’t even made it on to national news here in Britain. I will add, that ‘Street Preaching’ in Britain is NOT a great tradition, as the blog article wrongly states. Yes, there is Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park London. But London is to Britain what New York is to America and certainly not a standard of British life. Overt displays of religion and people spouting their religious beliefs in public are general disliked in Britain. Britain has been a ‘Christian’ country for well over a 1,000 years, however the social morality promised by religion (caring for the widows and orphans, social justice etc.) has only come about through the adoption of a secular, liberal democratic state. Indeed, the more secular our society has become the greater sense of social justice and fairness. When the churches were full and the Bible better known life for your average Brit wasn’t all that good. Hence the general distrust of religion and its more vocal adherents felt by many Britons. The preacher got what he deserved... Not for preaching about homosexuality, but for boring people with his views in a public space. Never something your average Brit condones.
I want to thank each of you for your visit and comments.
I want to thank you “The Problem with Religion” personally, for expressing your view point and concerns. It is interesting sometimes on how a news article can be viewed when it comes to our own idea on moral and social issues. I respect your view point and welcome your comments any time you wish to visit my blog. God’s blessings. Lloyd
Lloyd
Thanks. I was pondering this post and my response recently and suddenly released I had missed the obvious - which given I have just spent the past month marking undergraduate papers, many had answered questions on the subject of secularisation theory and many had noted how the US, as a Western nation is the exception to the rule.
Even today in the US Sunday church attendance is around the 50% mark, whereas for the UK it is 7% and for England alone probably much less. Many Brits have a love/hate relationship with religion and overt displays of religion or evangelism are held in contempt. (Having done street Evangelism in my youth, I can confirm this!!).
Whatever, there is usually more to these stories than meets the eye - and lets face it, preaching about one particular Christian view on homosexuality on a British street is probably not the best means of gaining a willing ear, is it? I am sure there are far more edyfying and less contentious bits of the Gospel the preacher could have used to 'spread the word...'
Regards:
S.
Thanks again “The Problem with Religion” for your visit and comment. You are so right, when it comes to spreading God's Word we need to do it in a loving and edifying way. The old concept of "Hitting the sinner" in the head with the Bible and telling them to "Turn or Burn" will not bring them to Christ, but push them further away from the Lord. God bless, Lloyd
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