Clarity – (A Biblical Response to Current Events) What’s Happening: Pope Francis was asked for clarification when he made a comment en route to the Philippines that some interpreted as justifying the attacks in Paris that killed seventeen. (news.yahoo/pope-charlie-hebdo-limits-free-expression-121639260.html). He said, “If my good friend Dr. Gasbarri says a curse word against my mother, he can expect a punch, its normal. You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. Knee-jerk Reaction: “That’s all those guys in Paris were doing; they were just ‘punching back.’” Biblical Response: What about the ‘golden rule?’(Matt. 7:12). Laws that forbid yelling “fire” in a crowded theatre or “hate speech” laws put reasonable limits on free speech. But Christians must go further still; not only should we “bless those who curse” (Matt. 5:44), but we should never give those who curse (or kill) a reason (Col. 4:6). What’s Happening: Lieutenant-General Ben Hodges, commander of U. S. Army forces in Europe, warns of Russia’s preparations to conduct several simultaneous Crimean-sized operations in the not-too-distant future … perhaps in the Baltics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) or in former Soviet state Georgia. (news.yahoo/russia-could-soon-run-multiple-ukraine-sized-operations-131010025.html). Preoccupation with the invasion of “the little green men,” a term used in Crimea to describe Russia’s deployment of its elite forces in unmarked uniforms, provides an important distraction to the West and thinly veiled plausible deniability to Putin. Knee-jerk Reaction: “Yeah, but that’s years away and there is no sense hastening a fight when you can’t prove anything anyway.” Biblical Response: Ignoring a problem does not make it go away. The sooner a liar’s lies are dealt with the better (Jer. 9:8). Unnoticing watchmen are going to be held responsible (Ezek. 33:6). For Clarity to arrive automatically in your (or a friends’) inbox, simply send me your email address (alansargent@yahoo) or go to (https://facebook/alansargent?ref=bookmarks)
Posted on: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 16:34:29 +0000
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