Christianity:

The most rapidly growing religious category today is composed of those Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. While middle-aged and older Americans continue to embrace organized religion, rapidly increasing numbers of young people are rejecting it.

A new article from Yahoo! News recounts a recent ceremony in India where almost 300 Indian girls with the Hindi name “Nakusa” or “Nakushi” were given the opportunity to change their names. The girls, whose Hindi names meant “unwanted,” were all allowed by their government to choose new names.

Such efforts are critical to shaping cultures that value both males and females, but the ceremony was also a poignant earthly picture of a spiritual reality. The scourge of sin has condemned all humans to righteous judgement by a holy and just God. And though the young women described in the article are deserving of being wanted and loved by those around them, all we as humans are totally deserving of being spiritually “unwanted” and “unlovable” because of our treason against God.

But, praise God, that is not the end of their story, and it is not the end of the Christian’s story.

The first recorded Christian Thanksgiving in America occurred in Texas on May 23, 1541 when Spanish explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, led 1,500 men in a thanksgiving celebration at the Palo Duro Canyon. Another early celebration of thanks took place on the banks of the James River in Virginia in 1619. But it was the Pilgrims’ three-day feast celebrated in early November of 1621, which most Americans now popularly regard as the “First Thanksgiving.”

Read about these and other celebrations of God’s providence, as well as the writings of the spiritual and governmental leaders who shaped the event we now celebrate each November in America.

Sadly, children born with physical defects make some people uncomfortable. Even more heartbreaking is the reality that this discomfort often turns to disgust and drives people to abort/murder their innocent children on account of physical problems.

However, the idea that some people are lesser because they have physical deformities is a lie refuted by Jesus Christ himself.

On Tuesday, August 30, FPN’s Policy Blog published a story about the murder of a disabled newborn child, Noe Medina. The tragedy of Noe’s death reminds us of the thousands of childless couples who would’ve been happy to adopt him, regardless of any birth defects he had.

But the societal response to Noe’s death reveals something darker about American culture.

News outlets are reporting the shocking story of a woman who was arrested after throwing her disabled infant son from atop a parking garage.

On August 23, Sonia Hermosillo was arrested by California authorities for throwing her 7-week old son from the fourth story of a parking garage located at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The infant boy, named Noe Medina Jr., had been receiving treatment at the hospital for various birth defects.

The ACLU has targeted a Virginia county over the prayers used to open meetings at the county’s board of supervisors meetings. According to the ACLU, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors begins its meetings with prayers that “are consistently Christian in nature; that is, they explicitly refer to Jesus Christ.”

In light of the testimony of Scripture, Christians should seek to elect politicians who would support the Biblical purposes of government. Voting is a very serious responsibility and should be exercised with great caution.

If we are to give an account one day even for the idle words we mumble (Matthew 12:36), how much more will we be held accountable for the votes we cast?

Romans 13 is very important because the Apostle Paul answers two major questions: What is the purpose of government and why should Christians obey authorities?

While the passage shows that all authority is from God, it also gives the primary functions of a civil government that does not usurp the authority of God. Every government is to restrict evil and promote righteousness.

Homosexual activists are attempting to force others to accept that their unbiblical sexual behavior is worthy of respect and sensitivity. In fact, homosexuals do not only wish to have widespread tolerance of their behavior; they wish to redefine what is “right” and what is “wrong” in society through a variety of cultural and governmental means.

Lately, several news stories have detailed efforts by homosexual students to hijack their school’s moral stance on homosexuality at Christian colleges across the nation. Not all Christian schools are rolling over to their demands, however.

Oral Roberts University has recently released what it calls an “Amnesty and Restoration Policy,” which affirms the school’s Biblical stance on the immorality of homosexuality while simultaneously offering Biblical counsel to students who struggle with unwanted homosexual feelings.

A recently-released poll, if accurate, reveals a shocking amount of racism still prevalent in some areas of the country. The poll, conducted by the Democrat-affiliated group Public Policy Polling, found that almost half of Mississippi Republicans think interracial marriage should be banned.

It is not a little ironic that this year Earth Day falls on Good Friday, the day reserved by Christians to remember the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ in payment for our sin. Such a coincidence appropriately highlights the stark contrast between a worship of creation and the worship of the One through whom all things were created.

Choose this day what or Whom you will serve: creation or the Creator.

The purpose of Scripture is not to make people “better” or allow them to live “their best life now.” Likewise, the end goal of Christian opposition to homosexuality should not be to make people more “moral” or to stop homosexual “marriage.” The purpose of Scripture and the end goal of Christian opposition to sin is to bring people to Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote that all unbelievers (homosexual and heterosexual alike) have the same revelation from God made plain to them, leaving no excuse for their rejection of Him (Rom. 1). Quoting the Bible doesn’t work with some activist homosexuals, mainly because of the erroneous postmodern notion that “truth” can be different for everyone.

If you saw someone who was doing something to hurt himself or others, wouldn’t you urge him to stop? Would you be surprised if he then called you intolerant or bigoted for asking him to stop doing those harmful things? Such is the response many Christians (including FPN) receive for their Biblical opposition to homosexuality.

Ever heard someone use the term “gay Christian”? It’s a loaded term. Homosexual activists’ use of the term implies an ability to reconcile persistent, unrepentant homosexual conduct with an active and true Christian faith.

Scripture shows such an existence to be impossible.

Biblical Christians are sometimes questioned by other Christians for their impassioned stance on the sinfulness of homosexual conduct. Critics sometimes decry a Biblical Christian’s determination to proclaim to our culture God’s truth on matters of sexual morality.

But this faithful opposition to sinful behavior in the culture is borne out of a realization of the Biblical Christian’s own sinful nature. While faithfully and boldly opposing the unbiblical homosexual lifestyle, Biblical Christians are acutely aware of the depravity out of which Christ saved them.

Candace Chellew-Hodges, a lesbian “reverend,” has written an article wherein she argues that homosexuals should drop their efforts to prove Scripture justifies homosexuality. It’s an interesting article, if only for the ground she cedes on the issue.

U.S. Senator Jim DeMint (R-South Carolina) made the following statement on the opening of the new Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) in Washington, D.C. He recently fought to include prominent displays of our national motto, “In God We Trust,” and the Pledge of Allegiance within the CVC. The Architect of the Capitol has also been instructed to consider the rich faith heritage of our Nation when selecting the content of any future display.