Newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has already, at least verbally, taken some strong and much-needed stands, rebuking the organization's treatment of Israel, recently citing the glaring double-standard by which they justify their antagonism against the Jewish state.  In her most recent statements, she pointed out how for decades the UN Security Council has abused Israel while turning a blind eye to the perpetual attempts to obliterate Israel and all Jews by groups like Hamas, whose stated goal, as spelled out in their charter, is the destruction of the Jews.  So why does the United Nations support genocide (the only logical conclusion that may be drawn by their actions)?  Why are academics on college campuses across the U.S. rewriting history in stark denial of intellectual honesty to incite hatred toward Jews, the Jewish state, and Christians?   Why are Christians who believe in moral absolutes, loving our neighbors as ourselves, and integrity of character maligned as backward, hateful, and ignorant?  Why do Bill Nye, Lawrence Krauss and others teach that the teaching of Biblical creation is a form of child abuse and as such should be treated accordingly?  Why under the Obama administration were there several documented cases of Christians being coerced into either violating their faith in the Word of God or losing their privately owned businesses?  What reason is there for the persecution?   (Let me establish up front that the Bible does not teach that the Jews will be saved from the wrath of the Lord by virtue of their ethnicity, so neither do I.  The Bible is very clear [Romans 9-11] that their salvation is found in Jesus alone, just as ours is.  That being said, they are still inextricably tied to God by virtue of ethnicity.  So even though they have, in large part, rejected that salvation, they still suffer alongside us, making their plight especially tragic.) The reason, in short, is offense.  The Holy Spirit presents a crisis to each of our souls, in the person of Jesus.  We must respond in one of only two ways.  We must either acknowledge the truth or rebel against it.  The world's raging against us is rage against truth, the way things are.  It is an attempt to escape God's Word.  But as we know, "Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?" (Psalm 139:7).  So the world rages all the more, crying:  "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us" (Psalm 2:3).  You see, we are the world's conscience, or rather the Holy Spirit through us.  He offers through us the gospel of peace:  "be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20b).  But this message is met with violence because, to those who choose rebellion against reality, Jesus is "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense" (Romans 9:33).

As the nations rage, the people plot a vain thing, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, let us not lose heart in doing good, but "let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).