As 2018 gears up, Christians are reflecting on the changing environment we are in.

An important book of 2017 grapples with the growing cultural and political hostility towards followers of Jesus.

Strangers in a Strange Land is the work of Charles Chaput, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia in the United States.

What is likely to be a long struggle to re-establish freedom of speech and freedom of religion now begins.

With the Parliament rejecting reasonable protections for freedom of speech and religion during the passing of legislation to redefine marriage last month, the Turnbull Government has established a religious freedom review panel headed by former MP Philip Ruddock.

The Australian Christian Lobby has congratulated Victorian mother, Inessa Zorkina, who gathered 49,000 signatures in the last three weeks to petition against ‘gender fluidity’, which were tabled in the Federal Parliament on Monday.

What can we do? This is a question I’ve been asked several times since we lost the plebiscite battle for the definition of marriage.

Last week’s rejection of freedom of speech by the Senate has sent shock waves through churches, mosques and Christian and Muslim schools.

For the last few days I've been in Darwin, speaking with church leaders about the Northern Territory Government’s proposed changes to their anti-discrimination legislation, including a proposal that the language in the Act be ‘modernised’ to remove so-called offensive language, such as the terms “man” and “woman”. 

We accept the result of the same-sex marriage postal survey. That is not in question. We lost.

Australia will redefine marriage.

It’s almost a week since we learned the result of the marriage plebiscite.

While there is understandable disappointment, there is also optimism about the future.

It’s a disappointing day. And sometimes as Christians we find ourselves in a season of Lament.

Indeed, there is a whole book of the Bible called Lamentations. I just happened to be in Chapters three and four as part of my devotional readings this morning.

Tomorrow at 10am we will know the results of the marriage postal plebiscite.

I will be hunkered down with our Coalition for Marriage and ACL Team at a hotel in Sydney.

Having fought so hard for so long, we want to be together.