Israel Condemned Again; Preschool Confusion; But "God Is Not Dead!"

According to the United Nations, can you take a guess at which country in the world is the most evil today?  North Korea - right?  Wrong!  Iran - right?  Wrong!  Certainly it has to be Syria - wrong again! "On March 24, 2016, the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women wrapped up its annual meeting in New York by condemning only one country for violating women's rights anywhere on the planet - Israel, for violating the rights of Palestinian women."  So writeS Anne Bayefsky in an article published at the Fox News website.  You can read the entire article at: www.foxnews.com/2016/03/29/can-t-make-it-up-un-names-democratic-israel-as-world-s-top-human-rights-violator. 

The writer continues: "In Geneva, Palestinian representative Ibrahim Khraishi told the Council on March 24, 2016: 'Israeli soldiers and settlers kill Palestinian children.  They shoot them dead.  They will leave them to bleed to death.'  And in New York, Palestinian representative Haif Al-Agha told CSW on March 16, 2016: 'Israel...is directing its military machinery against women and girls.  They are killing them, injuring them, and leaving them bleeding to death.'"

The writer describes some real-life scenarios by way of contrast.  "In Geneva's grand U.N. 'Human Rights' Council chamber, 750 people assembled, pounced on the Jewish state, broadcast the spectacle online, and produced hundreds of articles and interviews in dozens of languages championing the results.  On the ground, Israelis are being hacked to death on the streets, stabbed in buses, slaughtered in synagogues, mowed down with automobiles, and shot in front of their children.  At the New York UN headquarters, 8,100 NGO representatives gathered from all corners of the globe, in addition to government delegates, and watched the weight of the entire world of women's rights descend on only one country.  On the ground, Palestinian women are murdered and subjugated for the sake of male honor, Saudi women can't drive, Iranian women are stoned to death for so-called 'adultery,' Egyptian women have their genitals mutilated and Sudanese women give birth in prison with their legs shackled for being Christian."  She then writes, "Isn't it about time that people stopped called the U.N. a harmless international salon or a bad joke?"

Friends, these actions grieve my heart.  I love the nation of Israel.  I will be leaving in a few weeks to lead my 10th tour to Israel since 2000.  Over 200 people have traveled with me, many of whom have come back home with a deeper resolve to not only pray for Israel and its people, but to actively support that nation - the only nation in the Middle East that holds to a truly democratic form of government.  Israel is not a perfect nation, but, then again, our own nation does not have a lot to boast about any more with our "mob-mentality" that permeates our streets and our conversations, and the forced acceptance of ideas that defy our God-given moral foundations. 

Speaking of forced acceptance of ideas that our reprehensible to our God-given moral foundations, the following article appeared on the Gopusa website this past week.  It was written by Michael F. Haverluck, and is titled, "Preschooler expelled when parents object to 'gender' ed.  Allow me to share a portion of the article with you: "A four-year old student was kicked out of a Colorado preschool after her parents questioned the administration's controversial curriculum that openly promotes homosexual behavior and transgenderism in the classroom."  (Remember, this is a preschool room - okay!)  "Wanting the opportunity to opt her daughter out of the classroom discussions focusing on sexuality, same-sex relations and gender issues at Montview Community Preschool and Kindergarten (MCPK) in Denver, Colorado, R.B. Sinclair made it clear that she believes her four-yer old is too young to participate in sex education at school.  'I think at this age, they don't know what bias is,' Sinclair told the Denver Post.  'They could have kids from Mars and they would still play with each other.'  She maintained that it is her parental right to judge when, where and how her daughter is exposed to sensitive issues. ... The concerned mother shared her fear about the sexual indoctrination program arose when her daughter returned home from school and expressed that she was worried that her father might not like girls any more.  'She met with the principal over concerns about the books being read in class, including ones that told the stories about same-sex couples and worms unsure about their gender,' CBN News reports.  'School officials from the privately run parent cooperative explained the stories were part of the school's anti-bias curriculum, and because the discussions are sprinkled through the day's activities, they told her that opting out was not possible.'"

The end result, this four-year old girls was "kicked out" of her preschool.  I find it almost incredulous that our culture promotes tolerance of almost every act that is anti-God and anti-Scripture no matter how deviant or perverse it might be.  But, let a family take a stand on a morality that is counter our culture, and tolerance is forgotten.  And to think this "gender confusion debate" begins in preschool.  Is it any wonder that our children are growing up truly not knowing who they are?  God certainly knew what He was saying when He declared that instruction should be declared within the home (Deuteronomy 6).

Over the weekend I had the privilege to see the newly released movie, "God's Not Dead 2."  On Sunday evening I took 17 high school kids who have been attending my Worldview Class, then we had a discussion time following.  Friends, I highly recommend this movie.  It's major story-line is wrested right from the pages of our papers.  In fact, I have written several blogs over the past few months highlighting the theme of the movie - the eroding of our First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Religious Expression.  I strongly recommend this movie if you have children or grandchildren in upper elementary, middle school, or high school.  But, don't just watch it - take them out for ice cream or pizza afterward and talk with them about what they just saw.  This is the world in which they are growing up.  This is the world they encounter every day in many of our nation's schools and universities.  Help them to understand what the Bible says. 

Let me just refer you to one more article.  It was written by Bradford Richardson and posted at: www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/3/hillary-clinton-unborn-person-has-no-constitutional-rights.  The Democratic front-runner clearly states her position on abortion.  As I tell people, abortion is considered to be the "law of the land," but it is not - it is only the "legal declaration of the land" for there is no Congressional law permitting abortion.  It is only the Supreme Court's ruling on January 22, 1973 in Roe v. Wade.  It is one of many times in the recent past where the Supreme Court failed in its Constitutionally defined role - it created law.  How our Founding Fathers would have grieved. 

But, friends, do not despair!  Our God is still on the throne - and, as they declare in the movie - GOD IS NOT DEAD!  That fact is worth a hearty AMEN!