Sacked Australian rugby union star Israel Folau says the horrific bushfires that have devastated the country and caused six deaths are God’s way of punishing Australia for legalising abortion and same-sex marriage.
Dumped by Rugby Australia in May after claiming on social media that homosexuals and other sinners will go to hell unless they repent, the devout born-again Christian, 30, added to the controversy in his sermon in a video posted live on Facebook by the Truth of Jesus Christ Church Sydney on Sunday.
Prefacing his sermon with the hope that the message would be heard as he was “doing this out of love”, Folau said he wanted Australians to acknowledge the word of God and “hopefully receive it with open hearts”.
“I’ve been looking around at the events that’s been happening in Australia, this past couple of weeks, with all the natural disasters, the bushfires and the droughts,” he says in the clip on the church’s Facebook page.
It isn’t the first time Folau has courted controversy with his sermons.
In June he attacked gay and transgender children, months after his $4 million contract was terminated by Rugby Australia.
He also told the national conference of the Australian Christian Lobby in October that he knew telling homosexuals they were destined for hell would be “offensive” but would “absolutely” repeat it.
He is pursuing a $10 million unfair dismissal claim against Rugby Australia at Fair Work Australia, citing an “unreasonable restraint of trade”.
If the matter is not resolved at mediation in December, the matter will proceed to trial in February.
During the sermon Folau reads from Isaiah’s Bible verse titled The Lord’s devastation of the Earth: “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.”
Folau goes on to link the passage to the bushfire disaster and the legalising of same-sex marriage and abortion.
“The events that have happened here in Australia, in the last couple of years – God’s word says for a man and a woman to be together … they’ve come and changed this law,” he said.
“Abortion, it’s OK now to murder, kill infants, unborn children.”
Folau said the scripture was talking to Australia.
“Look how rapid these bushfires these droughts all these things have come in a short period of time. Do you think it’s a coincidence or not?”
“God is speaking to you guys. Australia, you need to repent and take these laws and turn it back to what is right.”
Folau said the fires and drought were only a “little taste of God’s judgment” with worse to come if nothing changes.
-with AAP
The post ‘Doing this out of love’: Israel Folau says bushfires are God’s judgment after same-sex marriage, abortion law appeared first on The New Daily.
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