|
 DEAR READERS
As I launch out with IFC I am trying to understand some of the
issues that are important to Canada
and how we should pray into them. This month I am commenting on
the definition of marriage, children at risk, and megacentres. I
want to be clear and provoking without being too subtle. I want to
communicate an urgency and a spirit of prayer. Your feedback would
be very helpful.
THE SEPARATION OF COMMONSENSE AND STATE
I
am shocked, but should I be? Last week the BC Court of Appeal
ruled that Canada’s legal definition of marriage violated the
equality rights of homosexual couples wishing to marry. They want
to replace the existing definition, ‘the lawful union of one man
and one woman to the exclusion of all others’ with ‘the lawful
union of two persons to the exclusion of all others’. Parliament
has been given until July 12th, 2004, to make the necessary changes to the Marriage Act.
But having just read an article in the Globe and Mail by William
Johnson I am no longer surprised. He made the logic so clear. I
quote him:
"But in a country that, in principle, separates church and
state, the state has a secular objective in legislating marriage.
Its concern is to promote public order and general welfare, not
religious doctrine. Religions can continue to promote their
respective views of marriage. The state will ensure religious
freedom, while pursuing other values, including the equality of
citizens, the dignity of all individuals, and the better public
health that comes from encouraging more stable sexual
relationships.”
That’s it in a nutshell! I see it now. Religions can be
tolerated if they do not interfere in the secular, pragmatic
process. MP Elsie Wayne can go red in the face appealing for
commonsense and the status quo re marriage: (Quote from House of
Commons Debate)
“There is not any need for this nonsense whatsoever and we should
not have to tolerate it in
Canada”
Sorry Elsie, but we do have to tolerate it, as the state has
already decided, in principle. You and your views have been
separated from the state! So where does this leave the praying
Christian? There is another separation we need to consider - the
separation of soul and spirit. see Hebrews 4:12-13:
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any
two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of
joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of
the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open
and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to
do.”
The intercessors of Canada
are aware that there is a God, ‘with whom we have to do,’ and that
nothing is hidden from His sight. The soul life is concerned with
what I feel, what I think and what I know without reference to
God. It is the energy of the world system; but the life lived in
the spirit is devoted to what God feels, what God thinks and what
God knows. I believe that the struggle with secularism can only be
answered by a church that is filled with the Spirit, that walks in
the Spirit and proclaims the living and active word of God.
Hebrews 4:14 says that: ‘we have ... Jesus, the Son of God’. We
need to be separated unto Him more and more in these challenging
days. Pray for a greater intimacy with the Saviour and a fresh
outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our Land.
PRAYING FOR THE PEACE, (SHALOM) OF OUR CITIES - JEREMIAH 29:7
Shalom is a gloriously inclusive word
that means prosperity, health, success in every area of life. The
Hebrew sages did not know that the church could be separated from
the state! Shalom reaches everywhere - even to our health. The
older I get I realize that good health boils down to about four
things: plenty of walking, drink lots of water, eat fruits and
vegetables daily, and do not smoke! This is very simple and yet so
difficult to be sensible particularly if you are young.
A
report just out identifies Canadian children as ‘Generation H’,
the H being for heart attack! This is an alarming trend as our
children are developing major risk factors for heart disease at
such a young age. In 1999, 37% of children between the ages of
2-11were overweight and 18% were obese. Children must change their
lifestyle or one day join the 80,000 Canadians who die every year
from cardiovascular diseases. What does the intercessor do with
this? Separate it off to the state to deal with? We must pray
'shalom' upon our children and encourage those around us by
example to have healthy lifestyles. Generation H and X etc need
the power of God in their lives. Pray for a mighty awakening
amongst the children and youth of Canada.
O’
METROPOLITAN CANADA, WE STAND ON GUARD FOR THEE !
Paul Martin promised last week, that when
elected as the Liberal Leader and Prime Minister he would
dramatically increase immigration levels each year to 1% of the
total population of Canada, about 300,000 new arrivals. Now the
majority of immigrants move to one of the big cities, increasing a
huge trend that is about to influence Canada in a major way. One
in every two Canadians already live in one of four metropolitan
centres. More and more are living in this emerging metropolitan
Canada that is so different from the rest of small town Canada.
The megacentres are:
Greater Montreal
Greater Toronto Area
BC’s Lower Mainland
The Edmonton - Calgary ‘corridor’
Smaller provinces, territories or towns could easily find
themselves eclipsed in the years to come by these fast growing and
powerful centres. This calls for great wisdom at the national
level to find the right balance of flexibility in government. But
what a challenge to live in and pray for the transformation of our
megacentres! The Gospel is successful and the transforming power
of Jesus Christ must be felt at every area and level of society.
What a challenge to cry out to God for the new type of Christian
leadership that is needed in these complex cities. We need leaders
of stature to be raised up for such a time as this who have both
the power of convocation and the ability to confront secularism
with the word of God and be listened to. Please pray for this
fervently. Our nation is still very young and formative. Will the
Canadian prayer movement adapt to keep pace, or can we actually be
ahead of the trend in the Spirit of Christ? God give us a hunger
for this and much wisdom.
|
