“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Observation
After the crippled man is healed, Peter addressed the crowd. While he and John are still speaking, some priests and guards come to arrest them as the priests are disturbed by their teaching. Many in the crowd believe their message and so the number of believers has grown to 5,000 men plus women and children.
The next day, the priests question Peter and John, demanding to know by what power they had healed the man. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, testifies that the man was healed by the name of Jesus, whom they, the priests, had crucified but God had raised from the dead. He goes on to say that there is no other name by which people can be saved.
Application
There is healing in the name of Jesus, and salvation in the name of Jesus. There is no other name, no other salvation.
Unbelievers say that all religions lead to God. But only one name will save us from hell and bring us to heaven. Only one name will bring healing, wholeness and new life.
The name of Jesus is powerful. Demons flee when they hear the name preached. They wither in fear at the testimony of righteous men and women.
Why would we seek another name, another salvation?
Yet some people do exactly this. Some people claim to be born again but run after other gods. A little bit of Christ, a little bit of Allah and a touch of Krishna.
Salvation is not a buffet in which we can take a little of what appeals to us.
There is only one Lord, our saviour Jesus Christ.
No other name will save you. No other “god” will heal you or take you to eternal life.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, your name is above all names. Thank you for saving me through your death on the cross. Amen.
Increasingly, Christians are having to make hard decisions about standing firm in their faith or kowtowing to the secular religion. Israel Folau is stating that his faith is more important than his sport. Notice how the ABC verbals him in the article while showing his actual tweets way down the article.
The 29-year-old said he was disappointed in the way Monday’s meeting with ARU chief executive Raelene Castle and NSW Rugby chief Andrew Hore to discuss his social media use was portrayed to the media by Castle.
“After the meeting I went home, turned on the TV and was really disappointed with some of the things that were said in the press conference,” Folau wrote in a column on PlayersVoice.
“I felt Raelene misrepresented my position and my comments, and did so to appease other people, which is an issue I need to discuss with her and others at Rugby Australia.”
Folau said he has “no phobia towards anyone” but refused to back down on his beliefs, revealing he told Castle he would quit rugby if those beliefs were harming the game.
“I didn’t agree with Bill Pulver taking a stance on the same-sex marriage vote on behalf of the whole organisation, but I understand the reasons behind why he did,” he wrote.
“After we’d all talked, I told Raelene if she felt the situation had become untenable — that I was hurting Rugby Australia, its sponsors and the Australian rugby community to such a degree that things couldn’t be worked through — I would walk away from my contract, immediately.”
Castle called Folau a “strong role model” after Monday’s meeting.
“We are in a negotiation with Israel to extend [his contract] and we would really like him to stay in rugby, that’s hugely important to us, he is a great player, he has delivered some great outcomes for us and has been a really strong role model in the Pacific Islander community and we would like to see he stays in rugby,” she said.
When asked if Folau understood the pain his comments could cause, Castle replied: “Yes, and I think Israel has acknowledged that maybe he could have put a positive spin on that same message and done it in a more respectful way.”
‘My faith is more important than my career’
Folau said he “could never shy away from who I am or what I believe”, and speculation he was looking for a way out of his ARU contract to take up big offers elsewhere was false.
“There have been things written about me angling to get a release from my Rugby Australia deal to pursue an NRL contract. That simply isn’t true,” he said.
“There have been rugby offers from the UK, Europe and Japan that are way above anything I could earn in Australia.
“This is not about money or bargaining power or contracts. It’s about what I believe in and never compromising that, because my faith is far more important to me than my career and always will be.”
The rugby league and AFL convert said his Instagram comment was to give someone “guidance”, not to cause offence.
“Since my social media posts were publicised, it has been suggested that I am homophobic and bigoted and that I have a problem with gay people,” he wrote.
“This could not be further from the truth.
“I fronted the cover of the Star Observer magazine to show my support for the Bingham Cup, which is an international gay rugby competition for both men and women.
“I believe in inclusion. In my heart, I know I do not have any phobia towards anyone.”
In a tweet posted on September 13 last year, Folau said: “I love and respect all people for who they are and their opinions but personally, I will not support gay marriage.”
There is an interesting article over at The Unshackled this afternoon about the results of Australia’s gun control laws.
It is often claimed that there have been no mass shootings in Australia since John Howard brought in tougher regulations in 1996 following the Port Arthur massacre. Except that isn’t true, unless you change the definition of “mass shooting” to fit the story you want to tell.
Here is the graph I found interesting:
From the graph, which covers all gun deaths per 100,000 population, Australia’s gun death rate was already in decline a decade before the laws passed and, apart from a drop after 1996, the gun laws have probably made no long term difference.
In the U.S. there was a drop from 15 deaths per 100,000 in 1992 to 10 in 1999 where it has stayed at since.
The biggest cause of gun deaths in the United States is actually black on black gang related deaths in inner city areas. No amount of gun control legislation will fix that problem, which is an ugly mix of long term poverty, poor education and poor public housing policies.
Enjoy speaking your mind and sharing your views while you can. The rights to freedom of speech, conscience, and religious belief look set to disappear very soon from Australia.
And it will certainly happen if the corporate guardians of public morality have their way following the grilling given to Wallabies superstar Israel Folau who is a devout, conservative Christian.
Falou holds some very traditional Christian beliefs about sin, heaven and hell, and homosexuality. He expressed his view that gay people should repent in this life to avoid being sent to hell.
You can agree or disagree with Izzy. But either way, if Australia is a genuinely free country, he should be free to express his genuinely held religious beliefs.
And if we are a genuinely tolerant country, we will let Izzy say what he thinks even though many of us may strongly disagree with what he says. Remember: tolerating views you agree with is easy.
We often confuse tolerance with ‘respect’. But real tolerance means putting up with the opinions of others that you think are simply wrong — or even abhorrent and repellent.
After all, we clearly expect Izzy to tolerate all the views bluntly expressed by his many critics, including corporate sponsors such as Qantas and ASICS, who accuse him of homophobia, and worse.
Obviously, when he answered the Instagram question, Izzy wasn’t representing the views of Rugby Australia, or ASIC, or Qantas. Only a fool would have failed to see they were his personal views.
Yet now there appears to be a concerted push to silence Izzy and force him to keep his religious beliefs to himself. But why should he keep quiet?
Freedom of speech means sometimes people will say things that others find disagreeable. And if we truly value such freedom, we will stop trying to silence those who offend us.
We are gradually, but inexorably, tipping towards a new kind of totalitarianism where any controversial or awkward opinion is silenced, and all dissent is crushed into submission.
Now is the time to stop this dangerous slide towards tyranny and intolerance. If we delay too long, it will be too late for us, and we will all be muzzled for good.
This is an edited extract of a piece written for the Daily Telegraph.
“And I will send the Holy Spirit just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”
Observation
Resurrection evening.
The two disciples from Emmaus tell the other disciples of their meeting with the risen Lord on their way home. While they are still talking, Jesus suddenly appears. The entire group is afraid because they think it is a ghost.
“Why are you afraid?” asks Jesus. He invites them to touch Him to see that He is real. He eats some fish so that they can see He is not a ghost.
Jesus then teaches them about how the Scriptures had spoken of His death and resurrection and the forgiveness that He would bring.
He tells them to wait in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills them with heavenly power.
Application
Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would fill them with the power from heaven. These were ordinary men and women who would soon be filled with the Spirit. It must have been hard for them to grasp what this meant for them.
Jesus tells them not to leave the city until they are filled with the Holy Spirit. One problem with the church today is that we are too dependent on our own plans and our own wisdom, and not dependent enough on the Holy Spirit.
We need the Spirit’s power to achieve His plans for us. Jesus tells us to wait for the Spirit to come. We must seek His guidance, His wisdom and His power.
When He fills us, then it is time to go and witness to the grace and love of Jesus, even to the ends of the earth. It is the Holy Spirit dwelling in us that makes it possible to take the gospel everywhere we go.
Prayer
Holy Spirit come and show me your plans for my life. Fill me with the power of heaven to live and witness for you. Amen.
Enjoy speaking your mind and sharing your views while you can. The rights to freedom of speech, conscience, and religious belief look set to disappear very soon from Australia.
