I need to share with you more news from a world that is becoming increasingly more tolerant of everyone, except believers in Jesus Christ. Two stories came to my attention this past week that I want to share with you. The first can be found at: www.townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2014/11/10/school-tells-kids-stop-praying-to-jesus. The story centers around what happened to Chase Windebank, a senior at Pine Creek High School in Colorado Springs, CO. "Three years ago he started meeting together informally with his classmates for prayer and religious fellowship. The young people would meet in an unoccupied choir room to sing songs like 'Amazing Grace' and discuss the issues of the day from a religious perspective. But all that changed on Sept. 29th when Chase was summoned to the office of Assistant Principal James Lucas. 'He was told that he could no longer pray with his fellow students during free time because of the separation of church and state,' said Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney representing the teenager. 'He was told that he could pray before the school day begins or after the school days ends but he could not do it during the school day.' To make sure Chase got the message - he was hauled into Principal Kolette Back's office the following day where it was 'reaffirmed that his religious speech could not take place during the open time known as a 'Seminar' period." It is interesting that the school did not say that Chase and his friends could not meet during that 'seminar' period, just that they could not discuss religious issues when they met. Another interesting thing to consider is that Chase and his friends have been meeting for three years; why are they prohibited now from meeting? Of course, the school does not have to supply an explanation - they just lay down the rules.
A second article can be found at: www.townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2014/11/12/school-dumps-Christmas-to-appease-muslims. "There's a new battleground in the war on Christmas - the suburbs of our nation's capital. The school board in Montgomery County, Maryland has decided to appease Muslim families by making the school calendar - religious neutral. That's bad news for all you Jews and Gentiles out there. As of next year - all Christian and Jewish holidays will be removed from the calendar. That means no more Christmas, no more Easter and no more Yom Kippur. There's no word on whether the board will remove the Irish from St. Patrick's Day or the love from St. Valentine's Day or the trees from Arbor Day. For years local Muslims had been urging the district to close schools for two of their holidays. Many gathered outside the school board offices holding signs like 'Support Equality for Eid' and "Because...our children matter too.' Instead, the school board opted to eliminate all religious holidays. The school district says kids will still be able to celebrate the holiday formerly known as Christmas and the holiday formerly known as Easter. Now - they'll be called winter break and spring break." As I read this article I began to wonder: If I lived in Saudi Arabia, do you suppose I could go to their school board and say that I would like to have the school closed to celebrate Christmas? How do you think they would respond? This is America - the nation founded upon Judeo-Christian values, including the celebration of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Easter.
Is it too late to take a stand for what is right and wrong? I am almost wondering if it isn't too late? The Church has compromised its principles for so long in order to seek the approval of the world in order to proclaim Jesus to the world. And what has happened is that we have lost our platform for being heard. It is sort of difficult to share how Christ can make a difference in a person's life when the life you are living is the same as that of your neighbor. You have nothing that he doesn't already have. The Early Church grew because it was so different from the rest of the Roman world. People truly saw a difference and were either attracted to that difference or repelled from it. Sobering thoughts.
Just an update on what is happening in Israel. Even though there is a declared truce between Israel and Hamas, the violence has seemed to escalate in Israel. The focal point of the violence is where it has been since the reunification of Jerusalem after the 1967 War - Jerusalem's Temple Mount. Clashes there have increased with Israel cutting off access to the Temple Mount for everyone one day last week. Jordan responded by recalling their ambassador from Israel for dialogues on how to respond. (As you might remember, as part of the negotiated settlement following the Six-Day War, Jordan was given the custodianship of the Temple Mount, or as the Arabs call it, The Noble Sanctuary). I was reading the paper today where Israeli forces are bracing for a tumultuous day on Friday during Muslim prayer services on the Temple Mount. All Jews are prohibited from praying on the Temple Mount. They may have access to the Mount, but cannot hold any religious services there upon the site where the two ancient temples once set. There is a movement among some highly Orthodox Jewish leaders to allow Jews to have access to the Mount for religious services. This really has stirred up the Arab World. "Israeli media debated whether the country was on the verge of a new Palestinian uprising or Intifada, similar to those from the late1980s and the first decade of the 2000s that took hundreds of lives. 'This is the same soundtrack that we all remember from the days of the intifadas,' wrote Alex Fishman in Tuesday's edition of Yediot Ahronot newspaper (www.apnews.myway.com/article/20141111/ml--israel-palestinians-529b2f05fa.)
Exciting the Palestinians is a new Hamas song that glorifies the new terror trend of driving a vehicle into a crowd. The song is called "Run Over the Settler." This fall a number of Israelis have been killed as they stood in line at bus and train stations as Palestinians have driven cars and trucks into those crowds. The words of this new Hamas song go like this: "Run them over, burn the next in line, Don't leave a single settler. Wait for them at the intersection. Let the settler drown in red blood."
The flames of a new wave of violence have certainly been lit. It only waits to be seen if something will cause those flames to become another raging inferno as in the past. Aren't you glad that God is in control. Our task is to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May we do that well.
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