Legislation, Crime, Abortion, Gay rights; and Jesus - the end of the law

by Lucien Jones

Where are you in the debate on hanging, abortion, and gay rights? The first two are raging in my country. The other is a major issue in the USA ever since California voted to overturn gay marriages on the day Obama won the presidential elections. Jamaicans are overwhelmingly in favor of retaining the the death penalty on our statutes, and our Parliamentarians are currently debating the issue. And with good reason. Just this week, one of our daily newspapers, in reporting on the murder and sodomising of a young boy, the gang rape of a woman and the murder of three women describes the situation as something, " Out of Hell". Lately citizens, seemingly tired of the security forces inability to curb the crime wave, have taken to " chopping up", gunmen whenever they can. Fighting back, while many others cower in deep fear of being the next abduction, rape, or murder victim. This is not a good place for a nation to be in, and our leaders have no answer to these brazen, wicked and apparently unstoppable gunmen. Therefore, in the view of some, legislation is at least one answer.

On another front, some public health professionals have been seeking to amend the Abortion Act, so that it is no longer a crime to perform such a procedure. They argue that this action would prevent the many deaths now resulting from unsafe abortions. Others also in favor, argue that, this should be a matter of an individual choice by the pregnant mother, especially in cases of rape and where carrying the pregnancy would constitute a grave threat to the mother's life. A position accepted by at least one church denomination. Those in opposition argue that life begins at conception, and therefore, any act to terminate the pregnancy, at any stage, is tantamount to murder. Both sides see the passage of legislation as very significant in going forward on this issue.
Gay marriage would never see the light of day in this " not in my cabinet" country. So it is not an issue. What is definitely an issue here is the retention of the buggery act as one way of ensuring that homosexuals do not " pass their place" in this society. Again legislation is seen as one way, and a significant method, of curbing the unseemly behaviour of these group.
So what did the Lord , who is in front of us, beside us, and behind us, say this week about these " hot button" issues.
The first was a still small voice from within. "Be careful you do not place too much focus on solving the problem of murder and violence that you get distracted and forget to seek to know Me better". I am dead serious. That's what I heard. And so about crime, so about road safety and even this Internet Ministry. "Be careful, lest you get distracted". When? Today. This evening. I went to the 7:30 am service but had to leave early - caught the wonderful sermon by one of our young people -to attend a service at another church on World Remembrance Day for Road Crash Victims. So I missed participating in the Eucharist -Holy Communion. Very badly. Thank God that the evening service, on the third Sunday of the month, is a Communion service. So as I prepared to leave and on my way down the Lord spoke to me about distractions. You would not believe also that my cell phone began vibrating, just at the start of the service. In keeping with God's message of distraction - I should have turned it off anyhow - I ignored it, arguing that any emergency would have to wait until the end of the service. Turned out that the person's phone had triggered the call by 'accident'.

Follow the rest on Luciens Blog (fairly extenssive post)

About Lucien: Member of the congregation of the St.Andrew Parish Church ( Anglican)in Kingston Jamaica.Invited to a Haggai International Evangelistic Training Seminar in Singapore, and began writing home to a Christian friend about how the colleagues I had met, really loved the Lord Jesus. And thus began this Internet Ministry some three years ago, and which comes out weekly on a Sunday night, and which has expanded tremendously with God's help.