Compass Point

The last few days have been hectic  while speaking several times before church groups and officiating at a wedding on Memorial Day.

I had the privilege to perform the wedding of a young man whom I have known since he was 14 years old. It was a lovely outdoor wedding on a perfect late May afternoon. I wish Jeff and Katy many years of happiness together as husband and wife.

Marriage today is under assault from many quarters. I have done two Beyond Today programs on this subject and it is always depressing to study the reports and articles about the state of marriage in the western world. I concluded lst time that even those who want to radically alter the traditional marriage and family concept are seeking something in life, some node of happiness and joy, that can only be found in a committed relationship between a man and woman in a biblically based marriage.

Those who advocate same sex marriages or anything but the traditional marriiage still come back to the basic model of two people committed to each other in a "marriage". They miss the right foundation when they throw out the Bible and God's instruction for the basic institution He gave to man at the creation.

China Builds Nuclear Force

Several articles in recent days have focused on China's growing nuclear weapons arsenal and its ability to fight a nuclear war.

Three articles over the weekend in the Financial Times were enlightening. The Pentagon has just released its latest report on Chinese military power. It noted the surprising pace of development  of a new Jin-class submarine which would carry a ballistic missile and nuclear bomb capable of a range of more than 8000km.

China is developing a fleet of five nuclear subs that would be armed with these long range missiles.

One Naval War College director commented, "What was grey before now is becoming clear. China now can effectively fight a nuclear war."  If China feels it can survive a first strike and then retaliate with its own force it could consider the risk of a nuclear war as something manageable, worth fighting if they thought they could come out on top in the end.

This article tells of the new commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific saying that Chinese military leaders are intensely interested in acquiring aircraft carriers.

We will have a major story in the June issue of WNP on China written by Cecil Maranville.