2015 | Week of April 27 – #1095

I’m predicting…That no matter which way the US Supreme Court goes on the marriage cases, religious freedom and individual conscience rights will be assaulted.

I’m predicting…That no matter which way the US Supreme Court goes on the marriage cases, both the number and the intensity of the assaults on people’s religious freedom and individual conscience rights will escalate.

I’m predicting…That within 2-5 years, should the high court force the states to recognize and legalize marriage between persons of the same sex, some pastor will be threatened and maybe even face fine and imprisonment for declining to perform a wedding for a same-sex couple.

I’m predicting…That no matter what the court does with marriage, in 2016 the national-level Republican Party Platform position on marriage will, at a minimum, change; it will be made softer and more politically correct—if it is retained.

I’m predicting…That the Republican candidate who garners the party’s presidential nomination will not defend God’s plan for marriage; he or she will either be silent on marriage or will make a politically correct statement on it.

I’m predicting…That if the court legalizes so-called same-sex “marriage” across the country, that in Wisconsin within 2-5 years, at least one Christian adoption agency will close its doors rather than be forced to place children with same-sex couples.

I’m predicting…That within 2-5 years, more than one church somewhere in America will face legal efforts to revoke their 501(c)(3) status if they even preach that homosexuality is a sin and same-sex marriage is wrong.

I’m predicting…That within 2-5 years, some parent in Wisconsin will challenge a school district for teaching his child that homosexuality is as normal and natural as heterosexuality. The parent will be told that since same-sex marriage is legal in Wisconsin, the schools are bound by law to present the subject this way.

I’m predicting…That living the Christian life 24/7, 365, both in public and in private, will become a high-risk venture in America—the day of cheap Christianity is coming to a close in our country.

If you’ve been following the news on this issue for the last decade, you know my predictions aren’t based on mere conjecture or speculation. Frankly, they are, at least to me, very obvious statements of highly probable not-so-future events.

Some think that once the US Supreme Court opinion is issued on this subject in late June that somehow that settles the issue.  That’s just crazy thinking, to be honest. No matter which way the court rules, some people are going to be unhappy. This is a high-stakes game—and both sides know it.

If the court foists legalized same-sex so-called “marriage” on the nation, it certainly won’t stop me personally or our organizations and many others like us from highlighting the harms of homosexual behavior and the harms of redefining and deconstructing marriage.

If God is merciful and the court says we the people through our duly elected officials in the states have the right to determine what marriage will be, surely experience has proven that those who oppose this view will not go quietly away. They haven’t done that for the past 50 years; why would they do so now? No, they’ll ramp up their efforts to get even more entrenched in our schools, city councils, and county boards. They’ll do everything possible to marginalize, sideline, malign, silence and destroy those who oppose them.

The Supreme Court deciding Roe v. Wade didn’t make the public debate on abortion go away. It has actually intensified it over the last 42 years. The same will be true for marriage.

Ultimately, those of us who are settled in the Truth of Scripture know that no human court can redefine marriage.  It’s actually pretty pitiful, not to mention arrogant, that human beings, even those dressed in black robes and sitting in a court room, think they can remake the institution that God created for His glory and our good.

I sincerely hope none of my predictions come to pass. Even now, with several letters of the name Ichabod likely written over this country, I will continue to pray that God will have mercy on us, as undeserving as we are.  I also will keep using every means I have available to proclaim the Truth about marriage, family, life and liberty to all who have ears to listen. I’m predicting, with great assurance, that in the end God wins.

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”