PASTOR PAUL BLAIR
Reclaiming America for Christ
www.RA4C.org
The Battlefield
SEE: http://saltandlightcouncil.org/battlefield.html; republished below in full unedited for informational, educational, and research purposes:“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
Salt & Light Citizenship Ministries are needed at churches across America because the future of our nation is at stake. As Dr. Kenyn Cureton of the Family Research Council said, “… the battle to defend the faith, the value of human life, the biblical definition of marriage, our Judeo-Christian heritage, and a host of other important moral issues, is not just a political battle, it is a spiritual battle - and the prize is the America our children and their children will inherit.”
Satan is attacking the three-pronged foundation upon which God has established society, specifically the family, the church, and the government.
Satan is attacking the family by:
- perverting the concept of marriage, which God created to be between one man and one woman only.
- also perverting the picture of the family as He has ordained it.
- usurping parental responsibilities and transferring the role and responsibilities to others, including the government.
- undermining parental authority.
- promoting abortion, sexual promiscuity and pornography.
Satan is attacking the Church by:
- marginalizing and silencing it.
- deceiving it with false doctrine and warped ideologies such as tolerance of sin and acceptance of same-sex “marriage.”
- falsely applying the concept of separation of church and state.
Satan is attacking the biblical model of government by:
- encouraging us to view government as a god, able to cure our social ills and our economic woes.
- detaching our government from the moral foundation intended by our Founding Fathers.
- expanding government into areas never intended by God, such as using tax dollars to fund activities that violate our biblical values.
- obscuring of the principle of stewardship in financial matters.
- judicial activism, whereby judges violate the separation of powers established by our Constitution and oppose the moral values upon which it is based.
Prayer, biblical worldview education and taking action are practical steps toward victory over Satan's attacks. Start a Salt and Light Biblical Citizenship Ministry in your church today. Click Here.
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Attention Pastors: Salt & Light Council
VIDEO:
Our Mission
...to train and equip churches to establish Salt & Light Biblical Citizenship Ministries that
will defend and promote life, traditional marriage, our constitutional and religious liberties.
will defend and promote life, traditional marriage, our constitutional and religious liberties.
WHO IS THE SALT & LIGHT COUNCIL? We are a non-political, non-partisan organization, dedicated to promoting biblical moral values in the public sector. Further, we are a coalition of cross-denominational churches with active Salt and Light Citizenship Ministries working to rebuild our Christian heritage in America. We seek to love and care for all of God's people, transforming hearts and minds through prayer, education and action.
We mobilize Christians at the grassroots level, helping them to live out their responsibility to influence government and civic affairs for good. History has clearly shown that without a strong, godly influence to overcome the natural tendency toward evil, governmental authority will destroy God-given rights, including the right to hear and speak His truth.
HOW WE DO IT? We have created a successful "model" citizenship ministry that can be easily replicated, thereby eliminating the need for church leaders to "reinvent the wheel."
Acting as a clearinghouse of information, we collect news from various ministries, policy councils, research organizations, and news-wire services. Each month, we highlight one state and national issue issues of high priority or interest and disseminate this condensed information to our member churches. All issues are vetted in advance from both a legal and a scriptural perspective.
We provide a structure that enables a quick, collective response to the issues that attack family values and God’s “non-negotiable” moral issues. We provide training, biblical worldview education, resources, and on-going support for the Salt and Light Citizenship Ministries at our member churches.
Our Beginnings
The year was 2008. California voters had previously passed Proposition 22, legislation that defined marriage as between one man and one woman only. Judicial activists threw it out, thereby opening the door for same-sex “marriages” to be performed in violation of voters’ wishes and, more importantly, in violation of how God established the family unit—the best environment for raising the next generation. Concerned citizens quickly mounted a campaign to place new legislation on the ballot that would trump the judicial ruling by inserting the definition of marriage directly into the state’s Constitution. It was a desperate, but ultimately victorious, battle… waged largely by Mormons and Catholics. Where was the evangelical church? This was not a political issue; it was a biblical issue!
Sadly, the voice of the Church has become a whimper; we are an increasingly persecuted and marginalized group, obediently accepting the admonition to keep our religious views to ourselves. Pastors were relatively silent during the Prop. 8 battle and many who did ultimately speak out waited until it was almost too late. Churches were not properly positioned to be able to “rally the troops” (grassroots citizens of the church). They were properly utilizing the warning information available from policy councils and watchdog groups. Furthermore, Prop. 8’s margin of victory compared to Prop. 22’s margin (4.5% vs. 23%) is a clear indication that the enemy of family values is quickly closing the gap.
One visionary pastor, Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church and Director of the Pastors Rapid Response Team, saw the need for Salt and Light Citizenship Ministries to be established in as many churches as possible across the country. These Citizenship Ministries provide solutions to the obstacles observed in the Prop. 8 battle, including: The proper role of churches in civil government, pastors who mistakenly believed they should stay silent; church members who were ignorant of what the Bible says about a given issue, also ignorant about our nation's Christian heritage; people who wanted to engage in the battle but didn’t know how or where to start.
Pastor Garlow approached Dran Reese and asked her to take the lead in San Diego and California… and the Salt & Light Council was born. The Council is a non-profit 501C3 corporation whose purpose is to train and equip churches nationwide to start and maintain Salt and Light Citizenship Ministries.
Along the way, the Council became aware that more ministries would be started if there were a carefully tested approach to establishing the individual Citizenship Ministries, one with rigorous standards that was able to cross Christian denominations—in short, a model. So a model citizenship ministry was established and it is available to churches now. With pastoral approval, we provide a turnkey ministry with minimal investment and eternal rewards. Our methods are proven and successful; your church can engage in prayer, education and action on issues and legislation with the utmost confidence. Our focus is on working at the grassroots level to carry out the essential action items needed to be a godly influence in our state, nation and world.
Thus, if you want your church involved in the restoration of our nation's soul, then Salt and Light is a vehicle to help you accomplish that. We tackle biblically relevant issues of public policy, including those related to the sanctity of life, the family unit, our Christian heritage, our role as citizens in civil government and our right to hear and freely speak His truth. The Church can and should strongly influence the national legacy of America that we will pass on to the next generation, and do so with assurance. All materials from the Salt & Light Councilare legally backed and biblically sound.
The battles continue—indeed are escalating on so many fronts—and a victory for biblical principles is by no means guaranteed. Subsequent to the passage of Prop. 8 in California, one homosexual activist judge proceeded to overturn the votes of 7 million people by deeming it unconstitutional. This critical, biblical issue will likely end up at the Supreme Court level where five, very powerful, unelected judges will decide on behalf of the entire nation what the family unit will look like.
As this one example demonstrates, our nation has fallen far from God's plumb line. Europe has slipped into the abyss of postmodernism and our own country may not be far behind. It is time to restore America back to its Christian foundations. Will you be part of the solution?
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ATTORNEY MATT STAVER ON THE GAY MARRIAGE
SUPREME COURT RULING
RESISTANCE TO EVIL LAW
DR. EVERETT PIPER
KRIS ANNE HALL-ROOTS OF LIBERTY
