So, things can look pretty bleak, at home and abroad. But in addition to the fact that we have the legal right and moral duty to try to restrain evil and advance good, Christians can celebrate some very good things that are happening concurrent with the gloom that sometimes seems to surround us.
Here is some news to encourage believers who sometimes feel at sea without a rudder in the waves of our culture. Some stories deal with specific events, others with broader trends. All should help keep us steadfast as we work for life, family, and liberty.
- “North Dakota's highest court upheld a state law that restricts the usage of medication abortions, reversing a lower court ruling. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that House Bill 1297 did not violate the state constitution, an allegation made by North Dakota's lone abortion clinic”.
- Pastors, Christian counselors and parents have a growing number of tools to protect themselves and their children from pornography.
- Increasing numbers of women delivered by Christ from sex trafficking, pornography, prostitution and stripping are reaching out to help others caught in these degrading behaviors.
- The adoption movement is bringing thousands of little ones, at home and abroad, into loving Christian homes).
- A federal court has said Ave Maria School of Law does not have to “provide contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilization,” per Obamacare’s mandate; FRC’s partners at the Alliance Defending Freedom played the key role in this victory.
- Even some traditional liberals are dismayed by the Left’s insistence on silencing conservative voices, and are speaking up about it.
- Although a recent survey says that most Americans see religion’s influence in culture waning, the survey also shows “most people who say religion's influence is waning see this as a bad thing”. This presents a real opportunity for Christians to talk about how God’s standards for society actually work – and use them to share the good news about Jesus, too.
- Believers in the U.S. are growing more and more aware of their suffering brethren across the globe; for example, FRC played a key role in the release of Christian Mariam Ibrahim from Sudanese captivity earlier this year. Voice of the Martyrs and Open Doors are among those leading in this area.
Is this list comprehensive? No. Does it diminish the grim news about abortion, violations of religious liberty, erosions of the family and our culture and other bad things we hear about so often? No.
But God is doing wonderful things despite the fallenness and corruption that is in the world. Let’s rejoice in that truth and from it gather continued strength to keep fighting the wrongs of our time.
