February 2007
Dedicated to Preserving Family Values
P.O. Box 66714, 38 King Street East,
Stoney Creek, ON CANADA L8G 5E6
| Report of ECP Centre's Ignite 2006 November Conference |
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Guest speakers were: Roy Beyer, (Director, Foundation for National Policy), Ruth Ross, (Exec. Dir. Christian Legal Fellowship), Link Byfield, (Dir., Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy), Joseph Ben-Ami, (Exec. Dir., Institute for Canadian Values), and Tristan Emmanuel, (ECP Centre). Audio clips and summaries can be found on the ECP Centre website. HWFAC will share a few of the important insights from the first speaker, Roy Beyer, who spoke on Over-coming the image problem in the war against religious freedom. Q. How do many political leaders perceive us and what is our response? A. Christians are irrelevant; Christians are easily placated (naïve) and manipulated; Christians are easily intimidated; There are no political consequences to them just ignoring us; Christians are afraid of losing their charitable status; Christians are reluctant to be in conflict. Q. How does the general public perceive us (our image) and what can or should we do? A. As Self-righteous, Uneducated, Angry and Mean-spirited, and as Regressive. Note: Many people agree with conservative values, but do not identify with the image. (So therefore, instead of voting Conservative, they voted NDP.) We need to win hearts and minds without losing our way. Speak to those who are confused. It is a cultural war led by a small, clever, elite group that is purposeful. They are in the arenas of influence, e.g. media. They have a campaign to befriend and win over politicians. Whereas, many Christians do not even know who their MP is, let alone have a good relationship with him/her. We (individuals/churches) need to build relationships through caring expressions, not through conflict. Roy's church (and 60 others) in Alberta invited their area MPs to church for a special service for them, where the MPs were invited to express what personal needs they wanted the church to pray for. Great effort! There are 3 false theologies: 1) Escapism: "Oh well, Jesus is coming soon." This attitude causes us to disengage from the battle. Luke 19:13 "And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." 2) Pacifism, and 3) Universalism : Don't preach against sin, homosexuality. You may offend someone. But the power of the Gospel results in personal and cultural transformation. We need to show evidence of God's grace in the public square to effect cultural transformation. Unfortunately, our opposition has succeeded in defining us. So we need to speak to the issues of the day, and to address the issues redemptively. And we need to equip people to engage the culture. Gloria Turner, HWFAC |
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