Sometimes I wish I was a much better communicator. I wish I had just the right words, just the right emphasis, to make a statement worthy for all the world to read. This is such a time. Something of such gravity is occurring in our culture that I fear we are going to wake up one day and ask, "How did this ever happen?"

Just this week I read in the paper about a "church trial" in which a Lesbian pastor was declared not guilty of violating scripture by declaring her homosexuality. The meeting had all the trappings of a solemn assembly. Clergy in clerical robes intoned all the right phrases with just the right sobriety. The tortured line of thinking went something like this: Yes, the woman violated her denomination's creed, but the social committees (justice issues) decided that this was a rights issue. They resolved it be redefining their terms, and devaluing the Word of the Lord.

In the same paper there was an article declaring that Planned Parenthood has appointed its first "chaplain." This minister (interestingly enough from the same denomination who cleared the Lesbian pastor) has as his primary assignment the theological justification of abortion rights.

Finally, on the front page of the paper, the Governor of Oregon made the following observation concerning the renegade activities of the Multnomah County Supervisors in issuing same sex marriage licenses. "I'm afraid that our credibility has suffered, and that the people will no longer respect the law or the government." He spoke prophetically.

When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai to meet with God, the mountain shook and the earth quaked and the people trembled. They knew that the Lord's Law was serious. I mourn what has happened in our nation and in our state. The underpinnings of our civilization are giving way.