Best viewed at minimum 600px screen width (Rotate your device to landscape orientation)
Featured Advertiser
Visit our
Christian Business Directory
Have the courage to stand up for your beliefs
Church in the Community - Media Release in the Herald: 12 September 2022
Source: TCN / Russell Viljoen
Date Added: 2022-09-12
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Date Added: 2022-09-12
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Somebody once said that "If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything!"
Today, the need to speak the truth and to stand for the truth is becoming more important than the need to expose lies and falseness.
People, in general, are scared to voice their true opinions and rather choose to remain silent.
We see and hear of things that are clearly wrong or that we clearly disagree with and yet we purposefully choose to take the easy way out and keep silent.
Anybody who disagrees with the prevailing social issues e.g., gender, marriage, parenting, politics, is subtly intimidated into submission and conforming.
You would think that this only happens in other bigger and more popular cities and countries, but it is starting to happen in our own backyard.
The most common place where all this happens is on social media.
Nobody can be sure anymore of the things that we read and see on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram... and now also TikTok!
Fake News has become generally accepted in society. Nobody cares anymore whether the information out there is true or not as long as it entertains or distracts.
We are slowly being trained and socialised into a very dangerous form of compromising our values and beliefs.
If you do not believe this, just do the following test: Go onto your social media and start posting any traditionally held beliefs e.g., that men can’t be women and women can’t be men and see what happens. Not many will be brave enough to take the test that I am suggesting!
I have no problem with people believing what they believe. All I ask is...
1. That we can freely discuss it.
2. That we respect each other’s views.
3. That we do not try to force our opinions on each other.
In a nutshell, this is called "Freedom of speech."
The right to freedom of speech and thought that we paid such a high price for is slowly being eroded.
It is almost as if there is an unseen urgency to push and establish certain agendas and to silence and intimidate any disagreeing or dissenting voices.
The irony to all of this is that the people who are pushing these agendas are doing so in the name of diversity, free speech, and so-called tolerance!
To take it a step further, not only do these people want to force you to believe their opinions, but they are lobbying to legislate their opinions and to make it Law.
It is almost as if compromising the values and opinions that you believe in seems to have become the order of the day.
Doing this might seem to make your life more comfortable and convenient but at what cost?
This is a very important question.
No society can continue to thrive and prosper when it is built on lies and wrong concepts.
History has proven this through the ages.
When we start to alter, modify or replace tried and tested traditional beliefs and values, we have generally seen that we pay a very high price for it.
As an example, the traditional value of sexual fidelity within marriage was one that was generally upheld by most societies, but in the 60s we saw the rise of the “free love” movement.
We have seen the steady erosion of marriage and family values over the years since then.
The divorce rate has skyrocketed and the devastation it leaves has far-reaching effects on all of us.
What price will my children and your children pay for our silence today?
As somebody once said, “evil prospers when good men do and say nothing.”
There is a verse in the Bible where the Lord Jesus says that the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
No truth = no freedom! Our freedom and the freedom of our children to live, believe and think the way they want to will be the price that we will pay with our silence today!
Even more concerning today is the silence or conforming on these issues from certain quarters of the religious sector that are supposed to be the teachers and protectors of truth.
I am a Christian pastor, and it really concerns me to see how certain parts of the church and its leaders have either chosen to silently disagree or to conform.
They are in self-preservation mode, do not want to rock the boat or believe the unbiblical values that we are being forced to adopt.
I want to conclude with an encouragement to all of us to stand up and be vocal about what we believe.
In light of this, may we also hear and respect each other’s opinions and refrain from trying to force our beliefs on others.
Do not allow our differences to separate and divide us.
To my fellow Christian leaders, I leave you with a quote from Dr Jordan Petersen, a Canadian Clinical Psychologist who is not a Christian. He said this after being asked if the Bible was true, “The Bible is not true…it is more than true…it is the basis and foundation of all truth!”
Russell Viljoen
Pastor of Ebenezer North in Jacksonville Port Elizabeth
Today, the need to speak the truth and to stand for the truth is becoming more important than the need to expose lies and falseness.
People, in general, are scared to voice their true opinions and rather choose to remain silent.
We see and hear of things that are clearly wrong or that we clearly disagree with and yet we purposefully choose to take the easy way out and keep silent.
Anybody who disagrees with the prevailing social issues e.g., gender, marriage, parenting, politics, is subtly intimidated into submission and conforming.
You would think that this only happens in other bigger and more popular cities and countries, but it is starting to happen in our own backyard.
The most common place where all this happens is on social media.
Nobody can be sure anymore of the things that we read and see on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram... and now also TikTok!
Fake News has become generally accepted in society. Nobody cares anymore whether the information out there is true or not as long as it entertains or distracts.
We are slowly being trained and socialised into a very dangerous form of compromising our values and beliefs.
If you do not believe this, just do the following test: Go onto your social media and start posting any traditionally held beliefs e.g., that men can’t be women and women can’t be men and see what happens. Not many will be brave enough to take the test that I am suggesting!
I have no problem with people believing what they believe. All I ask is...
1. That we can freely discuss it.
2. That we respect each other’s views.
3. That we do not try to force our opinions on each other.
In a nutshell, this is called "Freedom of speech."
The right to freedom of speech and thought that we paid such a high price for is slowly being eroded.
It is almost as if there is an unseen urgency to push and establish certain agendas and to silence and intimidate any disagreeing or dissenting voices.
The irony to all of this is that the people who are pushing these agendas are doing so in the name of diversity, free speech, and so-called tolerance!
To take it a step further, not only do these people want to force you to believe their opinions, but they are lobbying to legislate their opinions and to make it Law.
It is almost as if compromising the values and opinions that you believe in seems to have become the order of the day.
Doing this might seem to make your life more comfortable and convenient but at what cost?
This is a very important question.
No society can continue to thrive and prosper when it is built on lies and wrong concepts.
History has proven this through the ages.
When we start to alter, modify or replace tried and tested traditional beliefs and values, we have generally seen that we pay a very high price for it.
As an example, the traditional value of sexual fidelity within marriage was one that was generally upheld by most societies, but in the 60s we saw the rise of the “free love” movement.
We have seen the steady erosion of marriage and family values over the years since then.
The divorce rate has skyrocketed and the devastation it leaves has far-reaching effects on all of us.
What price will my children and your children pay for our silence today?
As somebody once said, “evil prospers when good men do and say nothing.”
There is a verse in the Bible where the Lord Jesus says that the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
No truth = no freedom! Our freedom and the freedom of our children to live, believe and think the way they want to will be the price that we will pay with our silence today!
Even more concerning today is the silence or conforming on these issues from certain quarters of the religious sector that are supposed to be the teachers and protectors of truth.
I am a Christian pastor, and it really concerns me to see how certain parts of the church and its leaders have either chosen to silently disagree or to conform.
They are in self-preservation mode, do not want to rock the boat or believe the unbiblical values that we are being forced to adopt.
I want to conclude with an encouragement to all of us to stand up and be vocal about what we believe.
In light of this, may we also hear and respect each other’s opinions and refrain from trying to force our beliefs on others.
Do not allow our differences to separate and divide us.
To my fellow Christian leaders, I leave you with a quote from Dr Jordan Petersen, a Canadian Clinical Psychologist who is not a Christian. He said this after being asked if the Bible was true, “The Bible is not true…it is more than true…it is the basis and foundation of all truth!”
Russell Viljoen
Pastor of Ebenezer North in Jacksonville Port Elizabeth
Source: TCN / Russell Viljoen
Date Added: 2022-09-12
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
Back to News IndexDate Added: 2022-09-12
Category: General News, TCN News, Issues - General, Issues - Moral Regeneration,
_______________________________________________
Please read our disclaimer
This section of our site aims to keep you informed about news in the local church, and worldwide.
Please email us any items of interest.
Please email us any items of interest.
 |
| Christian News to strengthen God's people at www.gatewaynews.co.za News that is fresh, relevant, edifying and which glorifies Jesus! |
Worthy News is a website with a good selection of news articles from around the world in a number of categories, both Christian and secular. They also offer a free subsciption service to deliver daily news headlines to your email box. Click here to pay them a visit.