LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
Dear CWA of Washington Members,
I hope you are all paying careful attention to what our elected officials are doing because their actions will directly affect you and your families. A few years ago, one of our federal senators made the comment that if people understood how much power she had over their lives, they would pay a lot more attention to what she was doing.
Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Paul told Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:3-5, 7)
The foundational principles for CWA are prayer, education and action to influence the culture and return it to God’s plan for His creation: sanctity of human life, male-female based families, religious liberty, parental rights and Judeo-Christian influence in the education process, fighting pornography and other destructive deviance, and national sovereignty to protect our unalienable rights from the one and only Creator God of the Bible.
How can we run the race faithfully if we are not informed and involved citizens? In the early 1880’s, Charles Finney, one of America’s greatest preachers stated, “The church must take right ground in regards to politicsThe time has come for Christians to vote for honest men, and take consistent ground in politics or the Lord will curse themGod cannot sustain this free and blessed country, which we love and pray for, unless the Church will take right ground. Politics are a part of a religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to their country as a part of their duty to GodGod will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.” Why not ask your own pastor if you can start up a Prayer/Action Chapter in your church or perhaps become a Home Team Captain and build a team of concerned citizens to whom you send our action alerts?
Last week, CWA had a successful meeting with our Spokane-area members. Prayer, fellowship and training on citizen activism made for a full couple of hours. Our last activist workshop was held in Olympia this week, followed by a public hearing and visiting with state legislators. It was clear that the hearing was merely out of necessity when, although the majority of attendees were against the bill under discussion, the committee passed it out anyway against the will of those people. A day in Olympia made me think about Paul’s statement on fighting the good fight, running the race for our Lord, and keeping the faith. While there is a lot of spiritual darkness in our state capital, we are also blessed with many fine, believing Christians who are doing their very best to stand in the gap for all of us in this spiritual and cultural war. Please be in prayer for all of our legislators on a daily basis, that the believers will stand fast therefore and the unbelievers will be convicted of their compliance with evil and choose to leave the darkness in search of the Light of this world, our Redeemer Jesus Christ. God sovereignly places us in situations where we can be fruitful. Please take that duty to bear fruit seriously; pray, be informed and take action to protect and promote Biblical values among all citizens.
The Encourage-A-Legislator sign-up form is attached. Please consider praying for one specific state legislator during next year’s session.
LEGISLATION
I. FAMILY
HB 2793, now titled Engrossed Second Substitute 2793 re: clarifying and expanding the rights and obligations of state registered domestic partners and other couples related to parentage
CWA of Washington continues to OPPOSE this bill.
As reported last week, this bill has passed the House of Representatives and is currently waiting for a vote in the Senate. Please see last week’s explanation for our opposition. Also consider that, beyond gender neutrality for all parenting terms and absolutely equal treatment of married couples and domestic partners, this bill considers a person a parent if that person has resided in the same home as the child and “openly held out the child as his or her own” for the first two years of a child’s life. We have already seen the problem with this in Virginia where Lisa Miller has been battling in court for full custody of her own daughter against a former lesbian partner with no genetic connection to the child. You may read several articles about this case at www.cwfa.org. In addition, this bill will make it legal to pay for gestational surrogacy in Washington State and make our laws regarding parentage consistent with other states. A he and a he or a she and a she may claim absolute parentage, thus neglecting the biological reality of the necessary male-female combination in creating life. While this bill would make it easier for married couples to adopt a child born from a surrogacy contract, it also denies the necessity for two parents of opposite genders to be involved.
PLEASE PRAY, THEN CONTACT YOUR STATE SENATOR AND ASK HIM OR HER TO VOTE NO ON 2793! You can find your senator’s contact information on the state legislature’s website at http://www1:leg.wa.gov/legislature or call the toll-free Hotline: 1-800-562-6000.
SB 6476 re: sex crimes involving minors
CWA supported this bill, and you helped pass it! Give praise to God that this bill passed the Senate by a 45-0 majority vote and then this past week passed the House with a 98-0 majority.
Sponsors:
Senators Stevens, Hargrove, Fraser, Swecker, Delvin, Brandland, Holmquist, Becker, Parlette, Carrell, Hewitt, Schoesler, King, Roach, Kohl-Welles
SHB 2424 re: protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse
CWA of Washington supported this bill also, and it passed in the House by a 98-0 vote and in the Senate yesterday by a 46-0 vote. Thank you for making those calls and sending those e-mails!
Sponsors: Representatives O’Brien, Pearson, Hurst, Takko, Herrera, Chandler, Ross, Rodne, Dammeier, Condotta, Shea, Klippert, Smith, Walsh, Parker, McCune, Campbell, Johnson, Eddy, Morrell, Kelley, Short, Sullivan, Conway, Kagi, Roach, Kristiansen, Bailey, Haler, Schmick, Ericks, Warnick, Ormsby, Moeller, Hope
By Request:
Attorney General
We CAN win this war if we continue to stand in the gap and fight for Biblical values to protect our families! Please give thanks for and to the legislators who sponsored such family-friendly legislation and praise God for those legislators who made the case for these necessary new laws.
Legislative website: http://www1:leg.wa.gov/legislature
Toll-free hotline: 1-800-562-6000
Visit CWA’s national website for current news: www.cwfa.org and the state website for information on how you might become involved with CWA of Washington: http://wa.cwfa.org.
PRAYER, EDUCATION AND ACTION!
As you increase your knowledge, you will increase your influence and your prayers will sustain this free and blessed country for now and our future.
In His Service,
Maureen Richardson, State Director
P. O. Box 143
Woodinville, WA 98072
425-869-1923
director@washington.cwfa.org