This week we will once again celebrate Anzac Day, and for a few moments think about the thousands of young Australians who gave their lives to preserve the freedoms that most of us take for granted today. Only a few will remember, for the number who actually experienced the two great wars is diminishing rapidly. This year there will be no local ceremony because there are not enough veterans left in our area.

I was only a small child during the terrible days of the Second World War, and do not remember much of that time. However, I do recall the conversations of others about the general fear in the community over the threat of Japanese invasion. As the Japanese forces swept through South East Asia, then Singapore and Indonesia and on to Papua New Guinea they seemed invincible. The might of the British Army, and a whole Australian Division just seemed to melt before them. And then, when Japanese bombs wrought their destruction on Darwin, it seemed that Australia would soon be wide open before them.

Of course, there were many more years of bitter fighting, and many more lives lost before the conflict was finally ended, but there was never again the same sense of imminent danger for the ordinary citizens of Australia.

The threat that faces us today is much more subtle and insidious. It is not the threat of foreign armies that can be clearly identified and opposed with gallantry and skill. It is rather the steady, often hidden destruction of the values, beliefs and character that once marked out our nation, and for which many of our young men and women gave their lives.

I heard recently that my Aunty had a problem with a door in her house that wasn't hanging properly. When she got someone in to look at it they found that the whole door frame had been eaten away by white ants. They had been quietly destroying the framework of her home and no one had noticed.

That, I believe, is a picture of what is happening to the moral framework of our society. Bit by bit the biblical framework of value that once held our society together is being eaten away. The decision of the High Court last week concerning the right of single women and lesbian couples to have access to IVF may have been a correct interpretation of our law. But it only shows how far our laws have moved from the Biblical standards. While the Federal Government has made some noise about changing the law, it seems unlikely that they will have either the will or the strength to stand up to the powerful feminist and homosexual lobby groups.

Almost daily we are presented with prominent public figures who have a "partner", rather than a spouse. The biblical idea of a marriage, where a man and a woman are bound to one another for life, seems almost a thing of the past. I was interested to read in the last issue of the Festival of Light magazine that a UK study on parenting found that children of heterosexual married parents had the least amount of problems later in life. Children of heterosexual co-habiting parents came next, and the children who lived with homosexual couple parents generally fared worst. Another article in the same magazine reported that couples who live together before marriage are fifty percent more likely to divorce.

When we look at how far godlessness has advanced in our society we might wonder if the enemy can ever be halted. Is there any hope for our future, and the future of our children?

The answer, as always is "Yes". For God is in control of the future. The message of Easter, which we have just celebrated, is that even though the powers of darkness may seem at times to have the upper hand, the final victory is assured.

After all, the Christian gospel first went out into a world that was morally far worse than what we see today, and the world was turned upside down! When the Church is being the salt and light in the world that Jesus means it to be, then society will be changed.

Furthermore, there is considerable evidence that God is beginning to move in our community in a new way. The healings and miracles that characterised the New testament are becoming more frequent. Just last week we saw some wonderful miracles of healing at the Conference at Dural, and, flowing from that, healings in a number of workplaces. Also, I received confirmation from Nigeria last week that the video about a man being raised from the dead is actually true! Let us not forget the past, but let us look forward with hope to the future, for our God holds the future in His hands.

John Davies
21 April 2002