Death By A Thousand Cuts

The World is Waking Up to Our Weakening Economy

Mike Hosking
NZ Herald


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has come to town to tell us the bleeding obvious. Our economy has lost steam.

We have been saying this each and every month this year, and most of last year to boot. The IMF has seen what we saw a year ago: a series of policies that could lead to nothing else but a slowdown.

The reemergence of unions, through large pay claims like the teachers' and nurses'; the Employment Relations Authority who just this week handed out living wages or higher to Mitre 10 franchisees; the spectre of fair pay agreements where entire industries get told what to pay and have no say over their own work force; a manufacturing sector that's stalling and certain parts of it now going backwards.

We have a services sector where the purses are snapping shut, and they're snapping shut because of confidence, which has fallen through the floor.

Daily Meditation

Analyzing Unanswered Prayer

Ligonier Ministries

Our prayers are sometimes not answered because we pray in vague generalities. When all our prayers are either vague or universal in their scope, it is difficult to experience the exhilaration that goes with clear and obvious answers to prayer. If we ask God to “bless everyone in the world” or “forgive everyone in town,” it would be difficult to see the prayer answered in any concrete way. Not that it is wrong to have a large scope of interest in prayer, but if all prayer is given to such generality, then no prayer will have specific and concrete application.

Our prayers are also hindered if we are at war with God. If we are out of harmony with God or in a state of rebellion toward Him, we can hardly expect Him to turn a benevolent ear toward our prayers. His ear is inclined to those who love Him and seek to obey Him. He turns His ear away from the wicked. Thus our attitude and reverence toward God is vital to the efficiency of our prayers.

We also tend to be impatient. When I pray for patience I tend to ask for it “right now!” It is not uncommon for us to wait years, indeed decades, for our most earnest petitions to be realized. God rarely is in a hurry. On the other hand, our fidelity to God tends to depend on “prompt and courteous” action by God. If God tarries, our impatience yields to frustration.

We also have short memories and easily forget the benefits and gifts we’ve received from the hand of God. This is the mark of the apostate—he forgets the benefits of God. The saint remembers the gifts of God and doesn’t require a fresh one each hour to keep his faith intact.

Though God does heap grace upon grace, we should be able to rejoice in God’s benefits if we never receive another benefit from Him. Remember the Lord when you go before Him. He will not give you a stone when you ask Him for bread.

Coram Deo

Reflect on these reasons for unanswered prayer to determine if they are affecting your prayer life: praying in generalities, being at war with God, being impatient, and forgetting the benefits you have received from God.

Passages for Further Study

Isaiah 40:29-31

Encouraging Signs Along the Way

Politics Makes For Strange Bedfellows

It's always encouraging when when even your ideological opponents stand up to defend your position.  Or, maybe it indicates how thin the ranks are.  Nevertheless, its great to see folk become fellow combatants fighting for what is fundamentally right.

Rod Dreher writes for the American Conservative, an e-magazine pretty much grounded in traditional, biblical truths.  He reviews the controversy over free speech now unfolding in Australia. 

Izzy Folau’s Surprise Backers

By Rod Dreher
The American Conservative
 

Peter Singer — yes, that Peter Singer, the pro-gay, atheist philosopher — comes out in defense of Israel Folau. Excerpts:

If Rugby Australia had existed in the first century of the Christian era, and Paul had had enough talent to be a contracted player, Rugby Australia would presumably have ripped up his contract once his letter to the Corinthians became public. That makes it quite bizarre that Castle should have justified Folau’s dismissal by saying, “People need to feel safe and welcomed in our game regardless of their gender, race, background, religion, or sexuality.” Did she mean that you can feel welcomed in rugby, regardless of your religious beliefs, as long as you don’t express them in public? That looks a lot like telling homosexuals that they can do what they want in the privacy of their bedroom, but they must not show their affection in public because some people might find it offensive.

As this example shows – and as John Stuart Mill argued in his classic On Liberty – once we allow, as a ground for restricting someone’s freedom of speech or action, the claim that someone else has been offended by it, freedom is in grave danger of disappearing entirely. After all, it is very difficult to say anything significant to which no one could possibly take offense. Mill had in mind restrictions imposed by the state, but when employers dismiss employees who make controversial utterances, that is also a threat to freedom of expression – especially when the employer has a monopoly on the employment of workers with special skills, as Rugby Australia does.

More:

Drug Corruption At the Centre of UK Government

Corrupt At The Core

The truth is Britain's entire elite has been corrupted by drug abuse for decades

Peter Hitchens
Mail On Sunday


Nobody will now be able to get the picture out of their head of the Right Honourable Michael Gove, Cabinet Minister, intellectual and parliamentarian, perhaps our next Premier, snorting cocaine up his nostrils at some louche London gathering.

In the background, his heedless fellow guests are braying and giggling. Thousands of miles away, the trade they have helped to finance is destroying lives by the hundred. But the menace is close at hand as well. In the dark streets not far away, the same trade is spreading like a stain, unrestrained by police and courts who long ago lost the will to fight it.

And why did they lose the will? Because they take their signals from above, and they know, in the police force and the prosecution service, and on the magistrates’ bench, that their modern masters don’t want too much fuss about drugs. For where might it end? If the drug laws were enforced, who knows who else might be treading the fools’ parade in the exercise yards of Her Majesty’s’ prisons – not just Cabinet Ministers and Privy Counsellors, but police chiefs, judges, bishops, school heads, university professors, senior civil servants, newspaper editors and BBC executives.

So rather than see that, let us be thoroughly egalitarian and just let everyone off.

I have to say Mr Gove’s confession comes as no great surprise to me.

Daily Meditation

Eliminating Unrealistic Expectations

Ligonier Ministries

Sometimes we all feel as if our prayers lack the power to penetrate our ceilings. It seems as though our petitions fall on deaf ears and God remains unmoved or unconcerned about our passionate pleading. Why do these feelings haunt us?

There are several reasons why we are sometimes frustrated in prayer. One is that our expectations are unrealistic. This, perhaps more than any other factor, leads to a frustration in prayer. We make the common mistake of taking statements of Jesus in isolation from other biblical aspects of teaching in prayer, and we blow these few statements out of proportion.

We hear Jesus say that if two Christians agree on anything and ask, it shall be given to them. Jesus made that statement to men who had been deeply trained in the art of prayer, men who already knew the qualifications of this generalization. Yet in a simplistic way we interpret the statement absolutely. We assume the promise covers every conceivable petition without reservation or qualification. Think of it. Would it be difficult to find two Christians who would agree that to end all wars and human conflict would be a good idea? Obviously not. Yet if two Christians agreed to pray for the cessation of war and conflict, would God grant their petition? Not unless He planned to revise the New Testament and its teaching about the future of human conflict.

Prayer is not magic. God is not a celestial bellhop at our beck and call to satisfy our every whim. In some cases, our prayers must involve the travail of the soul and agony of heart, such as Jesus experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane. Sometimes young Christians have been bitterly disappointed in “unanswered” prayers, not because God failed to keep His promises, but because well-meaning Christians made promises “for” God that God never authorized.

Coram Deo

Do you have unrealistic expectations that account for seemingly unanswered prayers? Are you treating God like a celestial bellhop?

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 102:17-18
Psalm 141:2

De Tocqueville On the US

The "Special Character" of the United States

New Zealand is now a thoroughly secular society.  The United States less so.  There are historical reasons for this disparity.  One fundamental difference is that New Zealand was progressively populated by immigrants from England coming to a country that was ostensibly governed by Britain.  In the case of the United States, once the Revolutionary Wars had ended, was self-governed to a degree and extent well beyond what New Zealand experienced in its days of colonial settlement. 

One of the consequences was that from the eighteenth century onwards the Christian faith had a far greater influence in the United States than it did in New Zealand.

Here is Alexis de Tocqueville's summary of the strong correlation in the United States between Christianity and American law and political institutions:

The Speech Tyrants

Why All the Anger Against Mrs Folau

Mike Hosking
NZ Herald

It didn't take long for the haters to zone in on Maria Folau, wife of the world's most wanted, greedy person, who yesterday had his GoFundMe page shut down.

Quick question (given the terms and conditions appear relatively clear cut): how is it that the GoFundMe people who were so full of LGBT free love and kindness yesterday in closing it down were not in the office last week when the page was launched - and quite clearly stated this is for legal purposes in a job scrap? Why did it take four days for them to wake up to their own rules?

One can also ask the Folau camp: how is it they didn't check the terms and conditions to see whether all this was kosher?

But back to Mrs Folau, otherwise known as Maria. Is this her problem? And is this something that someone like Netball New Zealand need to deal with?  No. Why? Because she is not her husband, she didn't break her contract, she didn't get sacked, she hasn't been in front of a hearing, she doesn't preach in church, and she isn't Israel.

Does she support him? Apparently yes.

Daily Meditation

Stunting Worship

Ligonier Ministries

The visual impact of the furnishings and the buildings of both the Old Testament tabernacle and temple was awesome. The eyes were dazzled with a sense of the splendor of God.

Sound was vital to Old Testament worship. The choral compositions of the Psalms were moving to the Spirit. They were accompanied by the full harmony and rhythm supplied by the harp, the lyre, the flute, and trumpets. The piano and the organ are marvelous instruments, but they cannot produce the sounds that the other instruments provide. Hymns and choral anthems are greatly enhanced when they are supported with greater orchestration.

Old Testament worship involved all five senses. The element of touch is missing in most Protestant worship. Charismatic groups emphasize the laying on of hands, which meets a strong human need for a holy touch. Early Christian worship involved the placing of the pastor’s hands on each person with the pronouncement of the benediction. When congregations got too large for such personal attention, the act gave way to the symbolic gesture of the benediction spoken by the pastor with outstretched arms. This was a simulation of the laying on of hands, but the actual touch was lost.

Old Testament worship included taste and smell. The fragrance of burning incense gave a peculiar sense of a special aroma associated with the sweetness of God. One of the first gifts laid at the foot of the manger of Jesus was that of frankincense. Most Protestants reject incense without giving any substantive reason for its rejection.

Taste was central to the Old Testament feasts as well as the New Testament celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The injunction to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8) is rooted in the worship experience. The people of God “tasted the heavenly gift” (Heb. 6:4).

Perhaps we have stunted worship by excluding elements that God once included and deemed important.

Coram Deo

Reflect on ways you might involve your physical senses in worshiping God in your private devotions.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 150:3-5

Broken Promises and a Breached Treaty

Henry Williams and the Treaty of Waitangi

---

"Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy". These words heralded the good news of the arrival of the Messiah to the shepherds on the Judean hills. The same message was heard in Jerusalem, and Samaria, and then in the rest of the world. Savage Northern European tribes heard the news of the gospel and "saw the light". Finally, the same message came to the South Pacific. These very words were uttered by Samuel Marsden on New Zealand soil on Christmas Day 1814. "

Yet it was another Church of England missionary, Henry Williams, who won the respect of the Maori and was arguably foremost among the early missionaries in New Zealand. Who was this Henry Williams, and why should all New Zealanders, and especially all Christian New Zealanders, know of him?

Early Life

Henry Williams was born in Hampshire in 1792 to a lace manufacturer father and a mother who was "well educated above the normal standards of her time, [whose] deep religious convictions and strong independent spirit made a deep impression on two of her children, Henry and William, who were to share the burden of early missionary work in New Zealand" (Rogers, 1973:30).

At the age of fourteen, Williams entered the Royal Navy. At this time, Britain was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. In the course of his ten years in the Navy, he distinguished himself in battle. After Napoleon surrendered, he, along with many other military men, was discharged as an officer on half pay. Some three years later he married Marianne Coldham. Marianne had trained as a cook, nurse, midwife and teacher, and became a wonderful helper to her husband and sharer in his Gospel work in New Zealand. Influenced by his brother-in-law, Henry trained for missionary work. This training included instruction in medicine, weaving, twining, basket making, and also shipbuilding (Fisher, 593). Thus prepared, at the age of 31, he arrived in New Zealand with his wife and three eldest children in 1823.

Before discussing Williams' role in the Treaty of Waitangi, it is necessary to touch on the character of the man, the state of New Zealand society at the time of signing, and the work of the CMS mission in New Zealand.

The character of the man

Who was Henry Williams? In character he was perhaps more akin to Indiana Jones than to the popular caricature of a clergyman. William Colenso, a fellow missionary with whom it was far from easy to get on, described him as:

"imperious and distant, almost of repelling manner, and yet very kind hearted. A superb organiser, he not only led but acted. However, he was eminently fitted for his post at that early time in this then savage land" (Rogers, 1973:19)
.
That Williams was no distant or elitist snob is abundantly clear when his relationship with the Maori is considered. As a Christian missionary he demonstrated the blessed life of a peacemaker. Fisher comments:

"Only rare individuals had the temperament to be successful mediators of European ideas in a Maori environment… As well as providing vigorous leadership for the missionaries, he acquired increasing mana among the Maoris. The fact that he was able to interfere in inter-tribal disputes and sometimes managed to negotiate a peace between hostile groups was both a cause and a consequence of his prestige among the Maoris. Only a person of considerable prestige would be invited to settle a conflict peacefully and it required even greater prestige to be successful" (1975:149).

Williams' courage is often noted.

Great News!

We Thank God for Justices McCombe, King, and Jackson

A British Judge Tried To Force A Disabled Woman To Abort Her Child Against Her Will

In this dystopian scenario, the state initially decided it knows better than an intellectually disabled adult woman and her caretaker.

Holly Scheer
June 24, 2019
The Federalist

On Monday, three appeal judges overturned a decision issue by Justice Lieven, which would have forced an intellectually disabled woman to abort her child, after the woman’s mother requested a review of the ruling. Lord Justice McCombe, Lady Justice King, and Lord Justice Peter Jackson reversed the decision in London’s Court of Appeals today. The reasons for this decision have not yet been released, but we do now know that this mother and her baby will be safe and she will be allowed to continue her pregnancy.

Before today, a British judge with a long personal history of supporting abortion rights had ordered a pregnant disabled woman to have an abortion against her wishes. The state decided it knew better than an adult woman and her mother who takes care of her and attempted to make this life and death decision for a child. This was a violation of the woman’s body and rights, as well as the child’s right to life, and both pro-life and pro-choice people ought to unite in denouncing this evil. The state told this woman that she had no choice in protecting her baby, and a judge tried to take away her autonomy. No case could further demonstrate the dangers that lie at the end of the eugenics behind pro-abortion policies than this devastating example.

Daily Meditation

Becoming a Worshiper of God

Ligonier Ministries

“Church is boring”—this is the most oft-stated reason why people stay away from church. It raises some important questions. How is it possible that an encounter with a majestic, awesome, living God could ever be considered boring by anyone? God is not dull. If worship is boring to us, it is not because God is boring. Sermons can be boring and liturgies can be boring, but God simply cannot be boring. The problem, I think, is with the setting, the style, and the content of our worship.

The New Testament gives us little information about proper Christian worship. It establishes some guidelines, but does not offer much content. In contrast, the Old Testament provides a panorama of worship information. This poses some dangers, as well as some vital clues, for worship. We cannot simply reinstate the elements of Old Testament worship, because many of them are clearly fulfilled once and for all with the finished work of Christ in His offering of the perfect sacrifice.

The Old Testament does provide a key to elements involved in worship. We see, for example, that the mind must be engaged in worship. The centrality of preaching underscores the crucial role of the Word. Full worship, however, is both verbal and nonverbal. The whole person is addressed and involved in a worship experience. We note that in the Old Testament, worship intimately involved all five senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.

Coram Deo

Is church boring to you? What do you think might be the reason? Spend some time in prayer asking God to show you how to become a true worshiper.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 132:7
Psalm 86:9
Psalm 29:2

How Low Can the Incompetence Go?

Unbelievable, But True

As inconceivable as it may appear, the fox has been put in charge of the henhouse--in real life.  New Zealand is being run by government agencies that are either incompetent, ignorant, or infantile, or, on the other hand, government departments have become front organizations for criminal gangs.

Consider the following:  

A high-profile gang member has been stood down from his role within the Royal Commission of Inquiry into historic state abuse months after multiple allegations of domestic violence were raised.

Harry Tam, a long-time member of the Mongrel Mob, was the facilitator of the inquiry's Survivors Advisory Group, a position that gave him the authority to appoint gang-affiliated men and women to the group, and access survivors' personal information.

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in Care released a statement Friday morning stating it was aware of allegations raised against "a staff member" and had commenced an independent investigation, but would not comment on the nature of the allegations. The Commission said the matter has been referred to New Zealand Police.  [Stuff]

So, here is this leading gang member who has allegations of domestic abuse and assault made against him.  He has been appointed to help run an inquiry into historical abuse suffered by those in state care.  Apparently his bosses thought he would be a sitter for this particular sinecure because he had first-hand knowledge of domestic violence.  He has been a front-line perp it would seem. 

Harry Tam's former partner complained.

"A Calculated Attempt to Slime"

Australian Donors Slam 'Smear Campaign' Against Israel Folau 

Matt Young
NZ Herald


Supporters who have donated to Israel Folau's controversial GoFundMe campaign say they have contributed because "freedom of speech is under attack and religion prevails" as the fundraiser edges closer towards one million dollars.  The devoutly Christian athlete was fired after a tribunal found him guilty of a "high-level" breach of the Rugby Australia code of conduct for posting on social media that "hell awaits" gay people.

He has set up an online fundraiser to support his legal fight against Rugby Australia.  News.com.au approached those who donated to his campaign over the weekend, but none wanted to be identified, citing the "fear of a diatribe of hate and righteousness being thrust upon them by the lefties and extremists".

Another declined to be identified blaming his own workplace's code of conduct. 

One donor in Melbourne told news.com.au: "I don't think there's any reason to shine light. Let people donate to him as he serves his people and is being unfairly shamed in public."  Another said supporters of Folau "fear labels such as bigot and homophobic being piled on them, all while simply expressing their opinion or just exercising their democratic right.  We cannot have a debate nowadays without these labels being thrown at you," the supporter said.

It comes as the Australian Christian Lobby called attacks on Folau a "smear campaign", with managing director Martyn Iles saying he was "very happy to financially support him".  "As Christians, we are supposed to stand with those of the household of faith who encounter various difficulties and trials," he wrote on Facebook.  Mr Iles described the situation as a "calculated and deliberate attempt to slime Israel Folau".

Daily Meditation

Seeking a Reformation of Worship

Ligonier Ministries

When Israel’s prophets denounced the corruption of Israelite worship, they sought reform, not revolution. Though they vehemently criticized liturgicalism, they never attacked the liturgy. Though they railed against externalism and formalism, they never sought to remove the externals and forms God had instituted.

For the forms of worship to communicate the content they are designed to convey, there must be constant instruction so that people understand their meaning. The sacraments are not naked symbols. They must be clothed with the Word. Word and sacrament must go together. Sacrament without Word inevitably yields formalism. Word without sacrament inevitably yields a sterility of worship.

We need a reformation of worship, a new discovery of the meaning of classical forms. I cannot be casual about worshiping God. God stripped of transcendence is no God at all. There is such a thing as the Holy. The Holy is sacred. It is uncommon. It is other. It is transcendent. It is not always user-friendly. But it is relevant. It provokes adoration, which is the essence of godly worship.

Coram Deo

Think about the sacraments and liturgy of the church you attend. Are they truly meaningful to you or have they become mere forms of ritual?

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 119:171
Psalm 108:1
Revelation 4:11

Israel Folau: What Is At Stake

Folau’s Court Case V. Religious Freedom


The Gospel Coalition, Australia


Sacked Australian Rugby player Israel Folau decided earlier this month to begin legal proceedings against his former employer Rugby Australia. He has recently produced a YouTube video explaining his decision and has opened up a gofundme page to raise funds for his legal expenses.

This high profile court case will likely have ramifications for religious freedom here in Australia. As such, TGCA spoke to Associate Professor Neil Foster to gain insight into this event.

TGCA: Why exactly is Israel Folau taking his former employer to court?

I don’t have access to the court documents which have been filed, but based on news and other internet reports it seems that the situation is as follows: he seems to be making a claim under s 772 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (“FWA”), which provides:

An employer must not terminate an employee’s employment for one or more of the following reasons, or for reasons including one or more of the following reasons:..(f)…religion.

This provision was inserted into the Act to implement Australia’s obligations under some international conventions drafted by the ILO (the International Labour Organisation), referred to in s 771 of the FWA.

To repeat what I have previously said on my blog:

One obvious question is whether the termination here has been for the “reason” of Mr Folau’s religion. His exhortation was a paraphrase of a Bible verse, and accompanied by an encouragement to repent and seek salvation in Jesus Christ. But it might be claimed that the termination was not on the basis of his religion, but rather on the basis of his choosing to express his religion in a way which insulted or offended homosexual persons.

The question is a complex one.

The UK's Commitment To Do Evil

Court Orders Forced Abortion For Disabled Woman


Catholic News Agency

A British judge has authorized doctors to perform an abortion on a pregnant Catholic woman with developmental disabilities and a mood disorder, despite the objections of the woman’s mother and the woman herself. The woman is 22 weeks pregnant.

“I am acutely conscious of the fact that for the State to order a woman to have a termination where it appears that she doesn't want it is an immense intrusion,” said Justice Nathalie Lieven in her ruling in the Court of Protection, June 21.  “I have to operate in [her] best interests, not on society's views of termination,” Lieven explained, arguing that her decision is in the best interest of the woman.

The Court of Protection handles cases involving individuals judged to lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves.  The woman, who cannot been publicly identified, has been described as “in her twenties,” and is under the care of an NHS trust, part of the UK’s National Health Service.

Doctors at the trust wished to abort her pregnancy and argued that, due to her diminished mental capacity, the abortion would be less traumatic for the woman than giving birth, especially if the baby would then be placed in foster care.   The woman’s mother made clear to doctors and the court that she would assume care of her grandchild.  [Note: the "doctors" apparently did not assess the trauma they are going to inflict upon the mother's baby. Ed.]

The woman is believed to have the mental capacity of a grade school-age child. She is reportedly Catholic, and her mother is Nigerian.  It is unknown if the pregnancy was conceived consensually, and police are investigating the circumstances of conception.

Daily Meditation

Emulating the Model of Worship

Ligonier Ministries

God instituted the model of worship found in the Old Testament.

The worship of Israel was formal and liturgical. Solemn rites were central to the experience. The setting of temple worship was anything but casual. The meeting place had an ambiance of the solemn and the holy. The ritual was designed for drama. The literature and music were high and majestic. God inspired the content of songs (the Psalms). The finest craftsmen, who were filled by the Holy Spirit, fashioned the articles of art. God designed the vestments of the priests “for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2).

Everything in Israelite worship, from the music to the building to the liturgy, focused attention on the majesty of God. God, in His holiness and in His redemptive work, was the content of the form. It was solemn, because to enter the presence of God is a solemn matter.

But even God-ordained patterns of worship can be corrupted. Liturgy can degenerate into liturgicalism, or even worse, sacerdotalism, by which the rites and sacraments themselves are seen as the instruments of salvation. The forms of worship can devolve into formalism and the externals into externalism.

Coram Deo

In your devotional time today, try some of the forms of praise and worship described in Psalm 150.

Passages for Further Study

John 4:22-23
Revelation 22:9
Psalm 99:5

Masters of the Universe At Work

It's Your Money They Are Wasting

We have posted several pieces on the NZ Government's "housing policy".  A recent comprehensive article dissects the situation--both past and present.  As a result the Government is in a messy mess.  

We have made reference to the inexperience and general incompetence of the Housing Minister, Phil Twyford.  His only real world experience to date has been in prancing around the world with Oxfam.  He is a big-vision man with small-time experience or wisdom in the real world.  That's been problem Numero Uno.

Secondly, he and his colleagues belong to the socialist mindset that tax payer extorted money thrown at an idea or project can solve any problem.  By spending money, great things will magically come to pass.  There appears to be no commitment to hard nosed, brutal critical evaluation and risk management in policy development.  There appears to be very little, if any, self-critical scepticism.  By throwing money at the so-called "housing problem" all obstacles will be overcome.  Public announcements of "progress" seem to represent little more than boasts, and "big-noting".  What we have been left with is the state's half a dozen Kiwibuild houses which few, if any want to buy.

The houses that have been built in the programme thus far have turned out to be purchased by those who meet certain criteria--in particular they are "middle class" and can afford them.  The question is begged: what on earth is the state doing building such houses for those who can buy them pretty much everywhere on the open market--particularly if they are willing to buy already existing houses in areas that are "middle class".

Here are a couple of excerpts from the article by Henry Cooke, published in The Guardian.

Shades of Orwell's "1984"

Pupil Thrown Out of Class for Saying There Are Only Two Genders

"I know what the Authority thinks . . . "

Victoria Friedman
Breitbart London

A 17-year-old school pupil was allegedly removed from class for failing to be “inclusive” by saying there are only two genders.  Footage covertly filmed on a mobile phone by a Scottish school pupil went viral after it appeared to show a teacher reprimanding the boy for stating that there are only two genders.

In a separate room from the rest of the class, the pupil is heard questioning why he was removed for expressing his “opinion” that there are only two genders, to which the 56-year-old male teacher replied: “What you were saying is not very inclusive. This is an inclusive school.”

The pupil rebutted that “scientifically, there are just two genders” and that he thought it was “silly” to insist otherwise. He also challenged the teacher on why he could share his “opinion” in the classroom but the pupil could not, prompting the teacher to reply: “I am not putting my opinion out. I am stating what is national school authority policy.”

“Well, that’s not scientific whatsoever,” the pupil said, to which the teacher responded: “Not every policy is scientific.  I know what you think, and I know what the authority thinks, I know the authority’s point of view is very clear,” the 56-year-old added later, as if that should settle the matter.  “[W]e make no discrimination on the grounds of [gender],” the teacher declared.

Daily Meditation

Invading the Human Soul

Ligonier Ministries

Biblical worship invades the human soul. It is the soul that too often has been banished from modern worship. We are a people preoccupied with self-image, self-esteem, and self-gratification. Yet in all this we don’t even know what a “self” is.

The human soul is in exile from our thinking. No wonder, then, that it is not considered relevant to worship. Heaven is too distant to contemplate. Our lives are lived within the restricted boundaries of our terrestrial horizon. We have so despised the notion of pie in the sky that we have lost our taste for it altogether.

But when our souls are engaged in worship, our gaze is lifted heavenward, our hearts are set aflame by the divine fire, and we are ready to be done with this world. There is such a thing as mystic sweet communion with Christ in worship.

I’m speaking about something that goes beyond emotion (but includes it); that transcends passion (but doesn’t annul it); that penetrates to the deepest core of our being, where we sense—nay, we know—that we are in the presence of the living God.

Coram Deo

Spend some quiet time in worship, asking God to set your heart aflame with His divine fire.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 7:17
Psalm 28:7
Psalm 107:8