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Join Many Others Who Are Praying for the Supreme Court

4/23/2015

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On April 28th the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments concerning the right of States to define marriage.  The Gay lobby has worked tirelessly for decades in an effort to redefine marriage across the country.  Unfortunately 37 states already have done so.  The current case before the Court will in effect either stop this runaway train in support of Gay Marriage, or uphold the right of States to determine the issue as they feel appropriate.  Below is a timely article from the Heritage Foundation that is helpful in weighing the issue.  I hope you will read it.  And please join the prayer effort across the country as we seek the Lord for deliverance from the tyranny of a Court that needs to respect the freedom of the people in their various States.

 

What You Need to Know About Gay Marriage and the Supreme Court

Ryan T. Anderson / April 21, 2015

One week from today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about gay marriage. Here’s what you need to know.

1. There simply is nothing in the U.S. Constitution that requires all 50 states to redefine marriage. Whatever people may think about marriage as a policy matter, everyone should be able to recognize the Constitution does not settle this question.

Unelected judges should not insert their own policy preferences about marriage and then say the Constitution requires them everywhere.

2. The overarching question before the Supreme Court is not whether a male–female marriage policy is the best, but only whether it is allowed by the Constitution. The question is not whether government-recognized same-sex marriage is good or bad policy, but only whether it is required by the Constitution.

Those suing to overturn male-female marriage laws thus have to prove that the man–woman marriage policy that has existed in the United States throughout our entire history is prohibited by the Constitution. They cannot successfully so argue.



3. As Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito pointed out two years ago, there are two different visions of what marriage is on offer. One view of marriage sees it as primarily about consenting adult romance and care-giving. Another view of marriage sees it as a union of man and woman—husband and wife—so that children would have moms and dads.

Our Constitution is silent on which of these visions is correct, so We the People have constitutional authority to make marriage policy.

The debate over whether to redefine marriage to include same-sex relationships is unlike the debate over interracial marriage. Race has absolutely nothing to do with marriage, and there were no reasonable arguments ever suggesting it did.

Laws that banned interracial marriage were unconstitutional and the Court was right to strike them down. But laws that define marriage as the union of a man and woman are constitutional, and the Court shouldn’t strike them down.

4. The only way the Court could strike down state laws that define marriage as the union of husband and wife is to adopt a view of marriage that sees it as an essentially genderless institution based primarily on the emotional needs of adults and then declare that the Constitution requires that the states (re)define marriage in such a way.

Equal protection alone is not enough. To strike down marriage laws, the Court would need to say that the vision of marriage that our law has long applied equally is just wrong: that the Constitution requires a different vision entirely.

But the Constitution does not require a new vision of marriage.

Advocates for the judicial redefinition of marriage cannot reasonably appeal to the authority of Windsor, to the text or original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment, to the fundamental rights protected by the Due Process Clause, or to Loving v. Virginia. So, too, one cannot properly appeal to the Equal Protection Clause or to animus or Lawrence v. Texas.

Nor can one say that gays and lesbians are politically powerless, so one cannot claim they are a suspect class. Nor can one say that male–female marriage laws lack a rational basis or that they do not serve a compelling state interest in a narrowly tailored way, as explained in Heritage Foundation legal memorandum “Memo to Supreme Court: State Marriage Laws Are Constitutional.”

5. Everyone in this debate is in favor of marriage equality. Everyone wants the law to treat all marriages in the same ways.

The only disagreement our nation faces is over what sort of consenting adult relationship is a marriage. Since the U.S. Constitution doesn’t answer that question, the people and their elected representative should.

And they should democratically enact laws that define marriage as the union of man and woman, husband and wife, mother and father.



6. Marriage exists to bring a man and a woman together as husband and wife, to be father and mother to any children their union produces. Marriage is based on the anthropological truth that men and woman are distinct and complementary, the biological fact that reproduction depends on a man and a woman, and the social reality that children deserve a mother and a father.

Marriage is society’s best way to ensure the well-being of children. State recognition of marriage protects children by encouraging men and women to commit to each other—and to take responsibility for their children.

7. Redefining marriage to make it a genderless institution fundamentally changes marriage: It makes the relationship more about the desires of adults than the needs—or rights—of children. It teaches that mothers and fathers are interchangeable.

8. Rather than rush to a 50-state “solution” on marriage policy for the entire country, the Supreme Court should allow the laboratories of democracy the time and space to see how redefining marriage will impact society as a whole.

There is no need for the Court to “settle” the marriage issue like it tried to settle the abortion issue. Allowing marriage policy to be worked out democratically will give citizens and their elected representatives the freedom to arrive at the best public policy for everyone.

As the 6th Circuit noted when it upheld several states’ marriage laws, “federalism…permits laboratories of experimentation—accent on the plural—allowing one State to innovate one way, another State another, and a third State to assess the trial and error over time.” Judges should not cut this process short.

At the end of the day, this is a debate about whether citizens or judges will decide an important and sensitive policy issue—in this case, the very nature of civil marriage

 

Keep praying.

 

Pastor Rusty

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Supreme Court Ruling this Summer

4/20/2015

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Please Read This Article

I am posting the article below because we are on the precipice of a Supreme Court ruling that will turn our nation completely upside down.  It is not too late to pray and it will never be too late to stand for truth!  Are you ready?
 



CP Politics

Monday, Mar 02, 2015

 

7 Things to Expect After a Supreme Court Marriage Ruling

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    Linda Harvey is president of Mission America and hosts a talk show on Salem affiliate WRFD in Columbus, Ohio.

    By Linda Harvey

    February 19, 2015|7:23 am

    The unthinkable may be near at hand: homosexuality as a "civil right." It's a complete lie, but the signs point to the U.S. Supreme Court granting constitutional-rights status to same-sex "marriage," and if that happens, homosexual behavior is likely then to become a civil right under U.S. law.

    Will our elected representatives prevent this next step from taking place?

    Here's how this may occur. Assuming the states' rights instructions of the Constitution don't stop the liberal majority on the high court, and they move on to the equal protection question, their thinking is likely to go like this: that the "person" being equally protected under the law in the 14th Amendment can encompass homosexual behavior.

    In other words, they will have accepted something that is historically, scientifically and spiritually invalid: that there is a fixed homosexual identity, inborn for some humans, that it is neutral in impact, and so, sin is acceptable and intrinsic for some people. A constitutional right to behavioral preference opens a can of worms that won't end at the endorsement of homosexuality.

    If this homosexual "personhood" mythology is embraced as U.S. high-court truth, this will be the justification for same-sex "marriage."

    It should break the heart of any freedom loving, God-honoring American to say this, but there is no evidence that America has the moral will to prevent the following "gay-stapo" dreams from being fulfilled shortly after. We could, but will we?

    Here's what's coming:

    1. A federal employment non-discrimination act (ENDA) endorsing "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" is a probable sequel, unless the GOP-dominated Congress uses good sense and prevents it. This will mean for all practical purposes that these behaviors will become federal civil rights akin to race. And then, local ordinances would pass quickly as well. What politician can withstand the accusation of "discrimination" against a "civil right"? There are few willing or able to make the case.

    2. Following civil-rights status for homosexuality, religious freedom to object to it will begin to evaporate. It will take some time, but unless more Americans jump on board to defend their right to freedom of conscience, the media will sell America on the "fairness" of this.
    Is it fair to compel a fellow American to violate his or her conscience and endorse same-sex "marriage" and sodomy?
    Courts will start to uphold this tyranny, and only the left-wing definition of what's approved for your religious faith will be allowed protection under the melting Constitution – unless we stop it!


    3. Hate-crime laws adding "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" will be passed in many new states, and federal law will be amended to expand federal penalties, unless conservative GOP representatives hold the line. We can hope and pray they do.

    4. FCC regulations are likely to follow the Canadian model, where faith-based broadcasts are required either to go silent on this issue or go off the air. Likewise, the Internet will be censored. Expect pages and postings to be blocked much more vigorously by Google, Facebook and others as counterfeit "marriage" and sodomy rights are defended by leftist information gatekeepers. Most government networks will block pro-family sites.

    5. Schools will mandate, as the state of California already has, a uniformly pro-homosexual message, and this fact less propaganda will be expanded into more of the curriculum, a message that will also be required for Christian schools after religious exemptions are dismantled.

    And can you fathom sex education lessons under the spell of legal same-sex "marriage"? Abstinence-until-marriage will take on a whole new meaning, one that will make sure kids know that oral and anal sex are permissible even for young teens with that same-sex "date" as long as condoms and dental dams are used. After all, pregnancy is not a factor, so at what age will activists demand children be allowed to act on this new "civil right"? Eleven? Ten? Eight?

    And homecoming king and queen? What a discriminatory, heterosexist custom! It will vanish in the glow of gender-less dating and courtship.
    6. Churches will have to make some hard choices. Tax-exempt status may be removed unless a church pledges not to preach "hate" – and expect to be monitored for compliance as well as see issues upon which the church cannot preach expand to abortion, creation, the exclusivity of Christ as Savior, and so on.


    After all, these are "hateful" messages in a godless new America.

    7. As all this unfolds, the new tyranny will become one of the top issues of the 2016 presidential campaign. "What will you do to stop this nonsense?" Or, "Will you enforce the law on same-sex marriage and punish objectors?" Because the GOP has painted itself into a faux "tolerance" corner, they will be scrambling for a coherent message.

    But many principled evangelicals will not vote for a president who waffles on these points, so the Democratic candidate– no matter who he/she is – will have an excellent chance at victory by seeming to occupy the moral high ground. The only possible change to this scenario is if the GOP nominates a courageous, authentic conservative.

    This is a depressing picture, but this tsunami will be possible because advocates and defenders of "LGBT" rights have filled the chessboard with enough of the necessary pieces to win the policy game: in the bureaucracy, in the courts, in the executive branch, in the media, in our public schools, even in many churches – and even in the GOP.

    So are you ready to do something? First, get your pastors to break their silence (which is why we're in this mess) and preach about this from the pulpit, entreating people to pray fervently and speak out. People should contact every congressional representative, suggesting they rein in the Supreme Court. They have lawful methods whereby that can be done.

    Then, start organizing recall campaigns for some of these lower-court judges. We need to make examples of activism and lawlessness and more closely monitor judicial appointments.

    Donate money only to candidates or political parties that defend the truth about homosexuality and authentic, man/woman marriage.

    God can change this, because with God all things are still possible. But if left up to easily deceived humans – including five or six of the humans on the U.S. Supreme Court – it's not looking too good.

    Linda Harvey is president and founder of Mission America and host of a radio talk show 880 AM WRFD (Columbus). Linda is author of the book, "Maybe He's Not Gay: Another View on Homosexuality."

    Source URL : http://www.christianpost.com/news/7-things-to-expect-after-a-supreme-court-marriage-ruling-134362/


Will We Pay the Price?


 It seems clear to me that the day of ease for American Christians is over.  We have lived in peace and prosperity with a great degree of freedom since the founding of the Republic.  However, the advance of ungodly higher education for over 100 years has sown the seeds of our destruction.  Today the high places in America are dominated by those who hold to a worldview that cannot support traditional Americanism.  They are systematically destroying the cornerstone of all American freedom—religious freedom.  The Gay Marriage issue is really not about Gay Marriage at all.  It is about a group of elitists who despise the Christian foundations upon which our Republic rests.  They hold traditional Americanism in disdain.  Nothing will satisfy them until religious Americans are forced to give up their deeply held convictions.  At least that is their goal.  If we thought there was a cultural war in America before—you haven’t seen anything yet.  The real question that will soon be answered is whether or not American Christians will pay the price to overcome this advancing evil.  Regardless of the outcome of the upcoming Supreme Court ruling on State rights related to marriage, this battle will not be over.  The ungodly elite in America will not be satisfied regardless of the Court’s decision.  They are at war with traditional Americanism and intend to stamp it out completely.  If they have their way these blind leaders of the blind will establish tyranny in America and have the audacity to call it a new day of advancement.  Are you already in the battle?  Will you actually stand up and be counted?  Or are you unable to see what is coming? May God give us grace and courage in this hour is my prayer.

Pastor Rusty








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Discerning the Times with Pastor Rusty

4/11/2015

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Debt Exploding, US at Risk of Fiscal Crisis

 

Here is another recent news release that reminds us all of the stark reality facing the nation if the Lord tarries His coming:

 

The federal government is heading ever deeper into debt and could be on track toward a "fiscal crisis," the director of the Congressional Budget Office warned.

CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf said federal deficits will add just over $7.5 trillion more to the national debt within 10 years. That would bring the national debt to more than $25 trillion.

He also told the House Budget Committee Tuesday that the national debt will be bigger than the entire economy within 25 years -- and grow even more from there.

Elmendorf explained that will eventually mean "the risk of a fiscal crisis."

Actually we are already living on borrowed time.  The amount of debt through-out our nation is staggering.  Take a look at the charts below.  They speak for themselves:

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These slides tell a story we don’t really want to face.  Not only is the Fed in trouble, but the private sector banking system is drowning in debt.  These slides do not touch on other debt that exists through-out our nation.  Yet, in spite of these realities our current President has submitted a 4 trillion dollar Federal budget that will run about a 500 billion dollar deficit again this year.  This in spite of the fact that the Federal government is taking in record amounts of revenue through taxes!  It would seem to me that instead of raising the Federal budget beyond the record revenue we would simply balance the budget.  After all, we could spend more this year than last without running a deficit simply because we took in more tax revenue.  But that’s evidently not good enough.  Sadly, there is no political answer to this dilemma.  Our leadership is bent on spending us into oblivion.  Quite frankly we are almost there.

 

Can We Weather the Storm?

 

It is no secret that trouble is brewing in our nation.  Beyond the problem of a sea of debt is the growing attack upon religious freedom.  Of course, I’m really talking about a growing attack upon the expression of Christianity in the general culture.  And if that isn’t discouraging enough we must now stand against the advances of Islam within our nation.  Legitimate immigrants are certainly free to worship per their conscience in America as citizens of this great nation.  However, no one has the right to promote ideology of any kind that destroys our Constitution.  The Islamic community in America does not have the freedom to institute law in their communities that violates the US Constitution.  Trust me.  If this is left unchecked our nation is headed for a crisis like no other we have ever faced in our history.  I challenge you to become familiar with Sharia Law.  It will not take you long to discern that Islamic law is simply not compatible with the spirit of America.

 

How should those who know the Lord respond to all of these growing challenges?  Well, in the first place we should actually pray for America.  I’m afraid we simply are not engaged in meaningful prayer for the nation.  Next, we need to resolve to confess Christ without apology in the days ahead.  We must not be weak in this hour, rather we need to step up and lovingly confront our culture with the truth of the gospel and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ is our only hope and we need to confess that!  And finally, we need to refocus on things eternal (2 Cor. 4:18).  It matters not what it may cost to follow Christ in terms of the loss of temporal things.  They will pass away anyway.  Set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth.  Our treasure is in heaven from whence Christ is soon to return to gather us unto himself.  Until then let’s trim our lamps and keep them burning bright as we take our stand for the Lord Jesus Christ.

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