The LGBTQIA movement and Religious Liberty are on a collision course within American culture. One of the most recent examples of this occurred in Atlanta. In early January, Atlanta?s Mayor, Kasim Reed, fired the chief of the Fire Rescue Department, Kelvin Cochran. Cochran had written a book, Who Told You That You Were Naked?, in which he condemned homosexual acts as an affront to God. Cochran had distributed several copies of the book to Atlanta workers, all fellow Christians, plus to three other employees who had not requested a copy of the book. Mayor Reed had suspended Cochran for a month without pay in November, pending an investigation into whether Cochran had violated Atlanta?s nondiscrimination policies.

What we think about is important to God: Paul continues his call for Peace with a directive & thorough description of ‘the right thoughts’ for Peace in one’s mind.

Paul makes a Call for Peace: Peace in the Church and Peace in one’s inner self, encouraging believers to have gratitude, be gentle with others, and to not be anxious.

Since the United Nations created the state of Israel in 1947, an offer to create a Palestinian state has been on the table. The proposed partition of Palestine in 1947 involved a state for the Jewish people as their homeland and a state of virtually equal size for the Palestinians. Israel accepted the partition; the Palestinians rejected it, which led to the 1948 war when the infant Jewish state was invaded by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. There have been three subsequent wars between Israel and these same neighbors (1956, 1967, and 1973). Today, Israel embraces the two-state solution (i.e., a Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel).

“Future promises determine present behavior” – Paul reminds the church at Philippi that because one has accepted Christ as a Savior, our thoughts & actions will be shaped & molded by Him.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently reported that about one-third of American girls become pregnant as teenagers. He further summarizes some other staggering statistics:

With the controversy between Jews and Muslims over the 37-acre compound called Temple Mount brewing these last few months, the Palestinian Liberation Organization made an extraordinary decision that defies all logic and history: The name used by Jews for this site?Temple Mount?the PLO declared to be ?null and void.? They stipulated that the site can only be called Al Aqsa Mosque or the Noble Sanctuary. [A lesser known Arabic name for the site is Bait al-Maqdis, ?house of the holy.?] For Islam, this is where the Prophet Muhammad is said to have ascended to heaven, where his role as Allah?s Prophet was affirmed. The controversy over the site the Jews call Temple Mount is over more than sovereignty or the title of the site.

The United States Constitution declares quite clearly that the job of Congress is to make the laws and the job of the president is to faithfully execute those laws. It really does not grant to the president the power to suspend a law or grant waivers for its requirements. However, President Obama has done just that on many occasions, threatening the sacred doctrine of the separation of powers so central to the Constitution and to the check on despotic power. Columnist George Will writes persuasively that ?Regarding immigration, health care, welfare, education, drug policy and more, Obama has suspended, waived and rewritten laws, including the Affordable Care Act? (ACA).

For Christians, Christmas is about Incarnation?the Creator stooping to enter His creation. The Incarnation challenges the proposition that this is a purely physical and purposeless universe, inhabited by evolutionary accidents whose sense of self is probably illusive. The Incarnation also shatters myths about God: He is not distant and unreachable; He is not uncaring and unconcerned; He is not unmerciful and arbitrary. We thought we knew God, but the Incarnation proves us wrong. The Incarnation is about God revealing Himself in Jesus as the loving, compassionate, merciful, gracious Savior; the Creator is now forever identified with the creature.

Paul encourages the people of Philippi to continue in pursuit of holiness & maturity as a Christian. He offers himself as a model to follow, warns of false teachers, and reminds them that their true citizenship is in Heaven.