Same-Sex Attraction and the World  By Jeanette Howard, Bethany Ministries, Sussex, England

This week has not been easy. In the light of the drama, tragedies and horrors that dominate our screens and saturate the airwaves, I have found it difficult to see the subject of who's attracted to whom as little more than first world pettiness. The passengers of one airline lie undetected on the bottom of the ocean whilst human remains from another flight are scattered over the war torn Ukrainian countryside. Syrian and Iraqi Christians are being slaughtered in their hundreds if not thousands while the Israelis and Hamas continue to bomb the life out of each other. Nigeria still hasn't found their 'lost' school children and they, along with the likes of Sierra Leone, are being torn apart by violent terrorists. I could continue with the increasing numbers of countries being confronted by the deadly Ebola crisis, but you get the picture. Placed against the mountain of this awfulness I am left asking the question, Does what I do have any worth?  I weep, I pray, and I beseech the Lord to intervene in world events. I sign petitions urging those in power to 'do something' to help alleviate the suffering and trauma in various continents, but I still question my day job. Does what I do really have any bearing on the big picture? He [Jesus] went on: "It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness-all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution." Matthew 7:20-23 (The Message) Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds [as shown by] because of your evil behavior. Colossians 1:21 (NIV, footnote included) The truth is that a world that is at enmity with itself is the only possible outcome for a people who refuse to acknowledge and submit to their Creator. We are designed to be dependent on God for all things, but insistence on living independently of Him can only result in more of what we are already witnessing around the globe. I may not be shooting air planes out of the sky or butchering people who don't happen to think as I think, but the truth is that I am more than capable of thinking murderous and slanderous thoughts or indulging in lustful imaginings. And that is why I need to continue with my day job. I can't change world events but I can help change the world in which I live. If, through the power of God's Holy Spirit I can help men and women bring their sexuality in thought and expression under the increasing Lordship of Christ, then I am fulfilling my part, however small, in ensuring that God's Kingdom increasingly invades and destroys Satan's Kingdom here on earth. We can live as men and women of the light who choose to surrender and submit our ways to the One who calls us back to our true self, that of being image bearers. In all things, however global or local: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here (in our hearts and) on earth as it is in Heaven. Amen. Photo: This is a variant on the Arabic letter 'N' you may have come across as some people's Facebook profile. This is to show solidarity with the many Christians who are currently being slaughtered in Iraq and Syria by the Islamic State. The letter is being scrawled on Christian homes and stands for Nasara (Nazarene).