World News and Trends: Clerics oppose Jerusalem gay fest
An American evangelist generated an unusual gathering of clerics from three faiths—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—to oppose an international WorldPride gay festival in Jerusalem planned for August (The New York Times, March 31). The festival's intent is to generate worldwide publicity for the gay-rights cause in the Holy City, home to three great religious traditions.
An American evangelist generated an unusual gathering of clerics from three faiths—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—to oppose an international WorldPride gay festival in Jerusalem planned for August (The New York Times, March 31). The festival's intent is to generate worldwide publicity for the gay-rights cause in the Holy City, home to three great religious traditions.
Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi said of the festival organizers, "They are creating a deep and terrible sorrow that is unbearable." Abdel Aziz Bukhari, a Sufi sheik, added, "We can't permit anybody to come and make the Holy City dirty." American Rabbi Yehuda Levin, of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, called the upcoming gay festival "the spiritual rape of the Holy City" (ibid.).
God certainly loves all men and women and offers all human beings the gift of eternal life. But God's Word, the Holy Bible, clearly speaks against homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10). God is no respecter of persons; He is also against all human sins that transgress His laws. He wants repentance, not the flaunting of our sins.
The interfaith clerics got this one right; such actions are clearly disapproved of by God and His Word. Of course, such demonstrations would be wrong anywhere—not just Jerusalem. However, given the spiritual history of the city, the festival here creates a glaring contrast that should grab everyone's attention.
Indeed, that is just what it is intended to do—for disgraceful reasons. Just the thought of such a thing is utterly shameful, an affront to Bible believers everywhere. This is yet another sign of the cultural corruption growing all around us in a world increasingly hostile to God's eternal standards and values. (Source: The New York Times.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2005
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Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
