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The following is from an Australian 60 Minutes programme 23 July, 2017.
‘The wife of a radical Australian preacher has broken her silence for the first time on the
horrific abuse she suffered for years at the hands of her cruel husband.
horrific abuse she suffered for years at the hands of her cruel husband.But Joy Harris, 63, revealed the most devastating aspect of her ordeal was being shunned by her own son – an Independent Baptist pastor like his Dad – because he blamed her for his father’s evil actions.
“I’m totally heartbroken. He hasn’t even let me see his children, because I have to repent first.”
Speaking in a 60 Minutes exclusive, the Cairns grandmother said she had been raped up
to seven time a day by her husband, Pastor Larry Harris.
“He thought the more times a day he could have it, the more of a man he was. He would get up to 6, 7 times a day and he didn’t care if it caused me pain,” she told reporter Liam Bartlett.
Pastor Harris pleaded guilty to two counts of rape in Queensland in January, however Joy will seek to have him charged in New South Wales, where the majority of abuse allegedly occurred, when he is released.
Joy told Bartlett any sense of justice will be forever overshadowed because her son Kevin, who leads the Illawarra Community Baptist Church in Dapto, has turned his back on her for speaking out against the church.
“[Kevin thinks] I’m just as guilty as a rapist, my rapist. I’m wrong; I’m displeasing God.”
In an explosive interview with 60 Minutes, which saw Kevin Harris storm out, he admitted he believed there was, “disobedience to the Lord on both parts.”
“I believe my father is guilty, but he has expressed his remorse and his repentance,” Kevin Harris said, whose breakaway church has no connection to the mainstream Australian Baptist Ministries.
It’s a stance that put Kevin Harris at odds with not only his mother, but also his own brother Jason, who quit the church in 2006 due to their fanatical beliefs.
“We didn’t realise it at the time completely, but she was a sex slave,” he told Bartlett.
Detective Sergeant Brendan Young led the investigation into Pastor Larry Harris and tells Bartlett he was appalled by what he uncovered.
“It was sexual assault, it was rapes, it was deprivation of liberty, look it was disgusting to be honest,” Det. Sgt Young said.
Joy told Bartlett Kevin’s views are widespread throughout the Independent Baptist movement and she’s determined to lend her voice to those unable to speak out against them, and expose the sinister doctrine being openly preached in small suburban churches scattered around Australia.’ http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/07/23/21/17/wife-of-preacher-reveals-horrific-torture-at-hands-of-her-husband
This is not a defense of Larry Harris or any man (saved or unsaved) that commits violence against a woman. However, this 60 Minutes story left a LOT of unanswered questions. For instance, when will Sixty Minutes to do a story on Islam and their treatment of women? Another is, did any of the seven children in the Harris home know these rapes were occurring while they were growing up? Also, why did Joy not call the police while she and Larry were in the states for those six years of counseling? Why did she not make the counselor aware of the fact that Larry had not changed but was continuing to rape her? Why, did she wait until they were back in Australia to call the police? This is not blaming the ‘victim’ but just asking some questions that need to be answered!
It seems like Sixty Minutes in this story is painting all independent Baptists as ‘radical’, ‘fanatical’, and preaching ‘sinister doctrine’. One wonders if the producers of 60 Minutes did ANY research into church history and especially the independent Baptist movement?
If they had they would have found that the English pastor, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, also known as the Prince of Preachers, pulled his church out of the Baptist Union (a mainline denomination) and became independent due to the Union’s theological liberalism. Only another theological liberal or an unsaved person would have said Spurgeon was a radical, fanatical or preached sinister doctrine!
I do not know what went on in the home of Larry and Joy Harris but Sixty Minutes owes independent Baptists around the world an apology for painting all of them with the same brush!
Are there ligitimate reasons why many do not trust those of the Islamic faith? For instance ‘During the month of Ramadan alone, the world witnessed 160 Islamic attacks in 29 countries, in which 1627 people were murdered and 1824 injured.’ At the same time ‘…Australian officials rush to declare that Islamic terrorism has nothing to do with Islam, revealingly they have referred to Islam or Islamic culture to exonerate Muslims on several occasions. In April, despite pleading guilty to sexually assaulting eight women and girls on a beach in Queensland, a young Afghan man was acquitted. The reason for the acquittal: “Cultural differences”. According to the judge, “seeing girls in bikinis is different to the environment in which he grew up”. The teen received two years’ probation without being convicted of anything.’
Then there is Labor MP ‘Anne Aly, Australia’s first female Muslim Member of Parliament’ who ‘said that racial-discrimination laws should be expanded to cover insults based on 
religion as well. The Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, has voiced similar opinions.’
Then there are those Muslims who ‘have decided to create a “safe space” on their own, segregated from the rest of Australian society. In Brisbane, the Australian International Islamic College is planning an exclusively Muslim enclave, including a mosque covering 1,970 square meters; a three-storey elder-care and residential building, 3,000 square meters of retail space and 120 residential apartments, in addition to new classrooms and a childcare center for 2,000 students. The existing site is already home to the college, which caters to students from kindergarten to 12th grade. So much for “multiculturalism”.’ https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/10604/australia-madness
It is hard to believe but the Islamic Council of Victoria ‘has called for funding for federal counter-terrorism and anti-extremism programs be side-tracked, and to instead put the focus on these so-called “safe spaces”.’ These safe spaces are needed because Muslim young people ‘“are feeling more emotionally overloaded” and a “safe space is needed for them to meet and talk about a range of issues.”’ https://tenplay.com.au/news/national/may-2017/peak-islamic-group-wants-funding-for-safe-space-for-youth-to-rage-and-vent
Is it justified to fear Islam as there are an increasing number of Muslims gaining positions within government and mainline media? Muslims claim to be a minority but that is only because they are in Western nations built on Christian and European values! This Muslim “minority” could have gone to any one of the 50 or 60 totally Islamic countries in this world but NO they chose to come to a non-Islamic country! Why? Why go to a country where sharia is NOT the law of the land?
As you watch the video remember these Muslims are only a minority because they chose NOT to go to one of the 50 or 60 totally Islamic nations that favour Islam but restrict the freedom of anyone not a Muslim, behead Christians, will not allow Christian churches, will not allow Bibles etc. etc.
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/bernie-sanders-rips-trump-nominee-being-christian
Does Bernie think (that is if he has the capacity to think) Muslims believe non-Muslims are going to Heaven? If he does he is more stupid than I thought. However, this type of questioning would never be allowed toward a Muslim! Again, Bernie showed what an arrogant ignorant man he is!
‘Under Old Testament law, vulgarity was forbidden and the penalty was serious. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
Under grace, the standard for such speech is even higher. It extends to any words that have the slightest bent toward disrespect of God’s name, vulgarity, swearing, and even vain repetition. In setting a higher standard, Jesus said that committing such an act in the heart is the same as actually doing it. (Matthew 5:29) The epistles overflow with commands saying that questionable speech and vulgarity do not belong in the mouths of the saints. Paul tells us that if we rein in our thoughts, we can guard our words against those things that offend a holy God.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:5)
With all this in mind, can you tell me why our present world is covered with a tidal wave of vulgarity? The offense is multiplied when humans, made in the image of God, actually defend the right to be foul mouthed! A celebration of vulgarity.
WHO SHOULD BE SURPRISED?
A foul mouth 
rises from a corrupt, putrid heart. We are surprised when a wicked heart is polite, kind, reasonable, and gentle in speech. It does happen. The reader has learned by now that I leave the devotional ministry, in the main, to my other friends; and they do well with it. My task, however, is to be a truth teller; and even believers are uncomfortable with truth in plain speech. Let’s be clear about this. Any heart that has rejected Christ as Savior is “wicked”. It has committed the most heinous sin that can be committed. The murder of the unborn and sodomy are wicked acts, but rejection of the Son of God, His deity, and His virgin birth are the height of wickedness. That is why liberalism is a wicked movement. It is why the majority of people you know are wicked. That is why some politicians, judges, and business men and women are wicked. So, when they vent their wickedness through their foul mouths, it is only a confession of just how evil they are. We are obligated to remember that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son. We are commanded to remember that God hates all sin, both small and great. While we are commanded to love all mankind, we must hate what God hates.
IMMERSED IN A WORLD OF VULGARITY
It is everywhere – news, radio, television, printed media, and our own communities. Spirit-filled Christians are buried in verbal filth at work, school, and out in public. No-one seems to care that God has forbidden such low-level conversation. If we go out for a special dinner, the conversation at the next table often turns to garbage. Try enjoying a night with the family at a special sports event -there is an onslaught of offensive language on all four sides. How many times have you been driving somewhere and encountered vulgar warfare between drivers or pedestrians? We live in a world where many people have the morals of a “junk-yard dog” with language to match. If you want a real eyeful or earful, go to social media. If you try to have a reasonable discussion, some liberal will bust in with a string of vulgarity that only demonstrates that he doesn’t have the slightest idea of what an answer should be… but he sure knows how to cuss!
You get the point: it’s a bad world out there. Let me ask you a question: Is there anything God’s people can do when buried in such despicable situations? There are times when it is best to be silent. In the vulgar world, people have been known to become violent if they think you are “judging” them. We know what Jesus did under such temptation; He quoted scripture. Many of you do that on Facebook. We can try a reasonable answer, but that usually doesn’t work with people who have rejected truth as a way of thinking. We probably don’t think of praying for depraved people, but that might be the first thing that should come to our mind. Of course, you could isolate yourself and pretend it is not really happening; but remember that “Silence isn’t always golden; sometimes it is just plain yellow!” Of course, you could side with the perpetrator and defend him/her by attacking the person who brought up the subject of holiness and truth.
THIS IS WHAT REALLY HURTS
It is so easy to pick on the children of the devil. In case you have forgotten, anyone who is not a child of God through faith in Christ is a child of the devil. That is the reason why they lie, cheat, steal, and communicate with vulgarity.
Would someone please explain why there is so much vulgarity flowing from the mouths, pens, and keyboards of those who call themselves Christians? You can see it for yourself. Go to Facebook right now, and see how many vulgar words are being used by those you think are believers. Sure, they think hiding vulgarity in code (OMG, etc.) is not the same thing. Shame on anyone who tries to defend “hidden swearing”. If I were an unbeliever, I sure would not be impressed with the fact that your foul language is just like mine.
You sure wouldn’t expect to hear this kind of language at church, right? Then you might want to listen a bit more carefully. Have you listened carefully to the conversations of teens? What boggles my mind is that several “evangelical gurus” have been championing vulgar language inside their messages and teaching. It may get some laughs, but it is not funny. Teaching others to sin does not set well with a holy God. Those who feel free to abuse grace hate it when their feet are held to the fire. When they are angry about the message, they attack the messenger. That is an old liberal trick.
APPLICATION
This seems like an impossible task. How do we get rid of this plague? In our own lives, we follow the commandment “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation”.
(I Peter 1:15) Since God lives within us, the answer is that His holiness makes it possible for us to live His holiness out in our living and speech. That means we don’t defend vulgarity in our lives or in the lives of others. Remember – silence is approval.’ https://shepherdstaff.wordpress.com/2017/05/16/vulgarity-celebrated/
There is always a price to be paid for standing for truth!
‘No government entity has the authority to license, commission, accredit, and certify any Christian ministry–unless said groups go hat in hand asking for state or federal funds. A license is permission to do what would be illegal without it. No preacher should ever permit the government to license his work. Even in other professions, a license does not guarantee quality but does provide control and income for the government. In some states, a license is required to use your truck to haul dirt, rocks, etc.; to shampoo hair in a beauty shop; to own a gun; to teach school, and on and on and on.
It is obvious that a medical doctor’s license does not protect patients from sexual abuse or unnecessary medical procedures; nor protect students from incompetent or predatory teachers; nor guarantee a reasonable-looking haircut from barbers; nor assure a fair, reasonable defense by attorneys; nor, but then you get the idea.
In the mid-400s, Theodosius II, Eastern Roman Emperor from 408 to 450, made it a punitive offense for a man to teach the public without a state license; and soon such licenses were given only to “Christians.” Now that the Church was in control, they decided to keep the unbelievers out of teaching by requiring permission from the church-controlled government.
As early as 1534, the English clergy were forbidden to preach without a government license and John Bunyan got caught up in government machinery that tried to control preachers and teachers.
John Bunyan has been one of my major heroes all my adult life. But, I recently discovered that 
John, after spending more than 12 years in jail for preaching the Gospel, finally accepted a license to preach! While that was wrong in my opinion, it does not diminish Bunyan’s courageous stand against King Charles II and the king’s demand that John and other dissidents (those who disagree) not preach the Gospel. Preaching the Gospel was very costly to all except the Church of England preachers and even they did not have total freedom of conscience since they had to obey the King and Parliament regarding religious matters.
In the seventeenth century, all religious groups hated the Roman Catholics who like all dissidents met in homes. Everyone in England and Europe remembered the Inquisition where “the papists” mangled, mauled, and murdered hundreds of thousands of “heretics.” All the dissidents and the Church of England preachers agreed–“No popery, no popery!” Of course, everyone should have had freedom of conscience–Catholics, Anglicans, Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, and even the religious weirdos. Moreover, all the groups were against the Baptists because of their insistence on baptism by emersion of only those who had trusted Christ as Savior. No babies under any circumstance.
King Charles I had feuded, fussed, and fought with Parliament and ended up being beheaded in 1649 followed by Oliver Cromwell becoming Lord Protector until his death in 1658. Although a strict Puritan, Cromwell provided religious freedom for everyone. Into this religious mix, mess, and maelstrom walked two men who would make their mark on English history–a preacher and a king.
When Charles II restored the monarchy in 1660, he reneged on his promise of religious freedom he had made in his Declaration of Breda a few weeks earlier (a mistake I hope Trump does not make). The people had experienced about twenty years of freedom of worship but now nonconformist (Baptist, Presbyterian, Independent, etc.) services were banned, and ministers were rounded up and arrested. The major hero in this religious mix was a born-again tinker, a Baptist preacher named John Bunyan. The resultant clash was titanic.
Soon after his conversion, Bunyan began preaching in 1655 and was arrested in 1660 while preaching in an unapproved religious meeting (conventicle). He served a prison stretch until 1672 when he was released with other dissidents. He was jailed again for a few months in 1675.
The Act of Uniformity 1662 required every preacher to adhere to and accept the doctrine of the Church of England or leave the country. That included all preachers of the Church of England (many of them Puritans) and all the various independent groups. Everyone had to attend the Church of England regularly with fines, banishment, and then hanging for a third offense. (That would sure help one decide whether or not to sleep in on Sunday morning!) The act required all clergymen to use the Book of Common Prayer; consequently, about 2,000 Puritan clergymen were forced to resign. Some of them recanted while others became dissident preachers, others got other employment.
As to unbiblical ceremonies in the Church of England, Puritans (and all dissidents) objected to kneeling during the Lord’s Supper, the observation of holy days, the use of the surplice (outer garment worn by priests), and the signing of the cross in baptism.
The noose got tighter when the Conventicle Act 1664 became law forbidding more than five people, not members of the same family, to meet for worship. This was followed the next year by the Five Mile Act that forbade any preacher from coming within five miles of any incorporated town or their former place of abode. The noose was now tight and the preachers were standing on a very fragile, shaky platform.
The Baptists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and other dissidents from the Church of England continued to meet surreptitiously in homes, barns, and abandoned buildings while the Quakers very bravely continued to meet openly. This was a time of persecution without parallel as Protestants (Anglicans) persecuted Protestants (Puritans and dissidents).
However, Charles and the Anglicans did not have it easy in hounding, hunting, and harassing the dissidents. In 1668, the Bawdy House Riots proved that sane citizens recognized the insanity of persecution of decent people. London crowds attacked brothels as they protested against a government which had tolerated prostitution while persecuting devout, principled preachers!
Present day parallels are numerous as the state asserts its authority to control religious colleges, license Christian counsellors, certify Christian teachers, regulate school curriculum, prohibit anti-homosexual regulations, restrict military chaplains, etc.
The modern state is as arrogant, asinine, and aggressive as King Charles II was and it’s time for principled Christians to resist to the point of jail.’ http://donboys.cstnews.com/government-cannot-license-a-ministry-john-bunyan-was-wrong
“The year 2016 saw the deaths of many pampered, privileged, and predictable entertainers who were known for their talent– and their choice of drugs. George Michael, Carrie Fisher, David Bowie, Prince, and many others passed into eternity prematurely because of a lack of wisdom in how they entertained themselves. They permitted themselves to be duped, deceived, and destroyed at a young age.
This calls to mind country singer Hank Williams, Sr. who held the world in his grasp then lost it all in the back seat of his Cadillac dying from a drug overdose on New Year’s Day, 1953. He was age 29. His long-time manager Merle Kilgore called him, “the most cocky, confident man I ever met in my life.” Yet, he was a small man with a very average appearance.
He had a string of hits including “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry” in 1949; and the haunting “Cold Cold Heart” in 1950; and “Your Cheatin Heart” in 1952. It seems that Williams could massage a song to get the most from it and was proficient with his guitar, but he couldn’t handle fame, money, and life in general. He was often drunk or drugged even on stage.
With all his advantages, as is true of other entertainers, he lived a shameful, sorry, and sinful life and died a lonely death surrounded by toys, trinkets, and treasure.
His songs reveal that Williams had some exposure to the Gospel. One of his songs reveals his knowledge of salvation: “How Can You Refuse Him Now?” The chorus asked: “How can you refuse him now, how can you refuse him now, how can you turn away from His side, with tears in His eyes on the cross there He died, How can you refuse Jesus now?” Hank obviously refused Him.
He wrote his famous “I Saw the Light” in 1948 although the melody was exactly the same as the Chuck Wagon Gang’s 1935 country gospel song, “He Set Me Free.” Williams often sang his song as if he was a man facing the end, desperate to believe in a salvation that he didn’t think existed. Was he trying to convince himself of the reality of the Gospel? He sang: “I wandered so aimless, life filled with sin; I wouldn’t ask my dear Saviour in. Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night; Praise the Lord, I saw the light! The chorus went, “I saw the light, I saw the light. No more darkness; no more night. Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” But Hank was not happy but hopeless, and hapless.
The second verse: “Just like a blind man I wandered alone, Worries and fears I claimed for my own. Then like the blind man that Jesus gave back his sight; Praise the Lord, I saw the light!”
The third verse: “I was a fool to wander astray, For straight is the gate and narrow is the way. Now I have traded the wrong for the right; Praise the Lord, I saw the light!” But Hank apparently never saw the light! He usually closed his shows with this famous song.
Near the end of his life, he was doing a show in San Diego but stumbled drunk off stage after only two songs. His friend, country performer Minnie Pearl, tried to sober him as they rode around town in the back seat of his Cadillac so he could do his second show. She got him to join her in singing “I Saw the Light” thinking it might help sober him, but after one verse, Hank put his head in his hands and said, “O Minnie, Minnie, I don’t see no light. There ain’t no light.” But there was light, only it seems Hank refused it.
On Jan. 1, 1953, Williams died in the back seat of his car on the way to a concert in Charleston, WV. He was to do a show the next day in Canton, OH in the Memorial Auditorium. Williams’ Drifting Cowboys band opened the Ohio show with a spotlight on the curtain after the packed crowd was told that Hank Williams had died the previous day. The band, behind the curtain sang, “I Saw the Light.”
More than 20,000 people attended his funeral on Jan. 4 at Montgomery’s (AL) Municipal Auditorium where an overflow crowd listened via loudspeakers. Roy Acuff sang, “I Saw the Light” as Hank’s body lay in front of him in its casket. Acuff was joined by Bill Monroe, Little Jimmie Dickens, Carl Smith, Red Foley, Webb Pierce, and others. Dickens began weeping uncontrollably during the song. It seemed to be appropriate to this huge crowd of fans that Hank’s “closure” song was used to end his last public appearance—his funeral.
Williams is buried in Montgomery and across the front of his huge tombstone are the words, “Praise the Lord, I Saw the Light.” What a tragedy that a man could talk, write, and sing about seeing the light, and apparently never see it.
We are on this earth for only a few years and it is foolish, freakish, and folly to destroy our health by drug addiction, riotous living, and even undisciplined eating. Hopefully, in this New Year we will be more disciplined, dedicated, and determined to live a life that is honorable with no dependence on illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and gluttonous eating.
We only have one life and we are fools to waste it. There is no second chance.”http://donboys.cstnews.com/top-country-singer-dead-from-drug-overdose
Isa 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
John 14:2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
2Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
Hebrews 1:10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
2Peter 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
Revelation 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
In my own opinion, Australian Creationist, John Mackay destroys the Professor in this debate. The ultimate question is; how did LIFE come from non-life?!
whatyareckon 