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Woman’s Natural Cycle of Life

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Identity, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Sexy or holy?, Vocation, tagged aging, body, child-bearing, depression, disappointment, grandmother, health care for women, hormones, menopause, mind, mother, sexuality, soul on January 20, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Not long ago, I was approached by a gentleman following one of my presentations. “I know your focus is on biblical womanhood,” he said. “And I appreciate that you’re trying to contrast the myths of feminism with God’s magnificent design of women, so I want to affirm what you’re doing from my professional point of view.”

“As a compounding pharmacist,” he explained, “I’ve developed a special interest in the health care of menopausal women. It is absolutely amazing to me that a woman’s body is literally built for child-bearing and mothering.” He didn’t say it, but it comes to me now that he was describing how a woman’s body is also built for grandmothering.”

I think that pharamacist was referring to a harmonious symphony of female hormones through the natural cycle of life. But there are those who oppose God’s design and direction. They have little regard for the cultural influence of mothers and grandmothers. (They deem fathers and grandfathers “unnecessary”.) Who are these people? They are the social scientists who deceive women to a sexualized life and perpetual self-satisfaction.

Dr. Judith Reisman writes that Alfred Kinsey encouraged “the idea that women are supposed to retain an aggressive libido well into old age. [Today’s women] report anxiety and depression triggered by their belief that they should, despite hormonal changes, still be sexually aggressive. Yet, the blessings of the aging process naturally incline them toward the joyful role of grandmother, with the many rewards that noble calling implies.” [1]

Clinging to a “sexual” identity, a woman might expend every effort trying to maximize or minimize all that is female. Such a woman—at every age and in any circumstance— might never see herself as any more than a body which seems perpetually disappointing.

But a woman who trusts her identity as a daughter of God in Christ can navigate the changes and challenges of life. Her physical body may frustrate or disappoint her, but she knows that she is more than just body.

She is body, mind and soul.

[1] Judith A. Reisman, PhD., Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences (Crestwood, KY., The Institute for Media Education, 1998, 2000), 124.

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Where Are the Men?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Parenting & Education, tagged Breakpoint, Camille Paglia, children at risk, courageous men, fall of civilization, family values, feminism, gender identity, gender politics, John Stonestreet, military, neutered boys, war against boys on January 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

John Stonestreet’s article in Breakpoint is a perfect follow-up to my post of yesterday. John writes:

You probably won’t see her on Fox News. And she doesn’t have a column in National Review. But a lesbian academic trained at Yale, Camille Paglia, who describes herself as a “notorious Amazon feminist,” is an unlikely prophet of cultural doom. And maybe that’s why we should listen to what she has to say.

In a wide-ranging interview in the Wall Street Journal, Paglia says most feminists today deny the basic differences between the sexes, and as a consequence are setting us up for a huge fall. “What you’re seeing is how a civilization commits suicide,” she says.

How? Well, Paglia says, many members of the cultural elite have no experience in the military and in fact disdain military service, a traditionally male province. “These people don’t think in military ways,” Paglia says, “so there’s this illusion out there that people are basically nice, people are basically kind…. They literally don’t have any sense of evil or criminality.” Daily_Commentary_01_09_14

Friends, as our friend Chuck Colson would say, this isn’t primarily a knowledge problem. It’s a worldview problem. Paglia says modern feminists pass that misunderstanding onto the rest of us at the earliest opportunity—in kindergarten.

“Primary-school education is a crock, basically,” Paglia warns. “They’re making a toxic environment for boys. Primary education does everything in its power to turn boys into neuters.” As the Journal article relates, “she sees the tacit elevation of ‘female values’—such as sensitivity, socialization and cooperation—as the main aim of teachers, rather than fostering creative energy and teaching hard geographical and historical facts.”

And the same thing happens, she says, all the way to college. “The PC gender politics things,” Paglia says, “the way gender is being taught in the universities… is all about neutralization of maleness.” Another prominent feminist, Christina Hoff Sommers, who first alerted us to the ongoing “war against boys” in the culture, agrees, saying, “Boys are languishing academically, while girls are soaring.”

Male neutralization, Paglia says, includes the idea that men and women are biologically the same and that gender is nothing but a social construct. And this is why we shouldn’t be surprised that California schools have started to allow kindergartners with supposed “gender identity” issues to go to whichever bathroom they choose.

Paglia warns us that men have “no models of manhood” in our culture, adding: “Masculinity is just becoming something that is imitated from the movies. There’s nothing left. There’s no room for anything manly right now.” The culture, this feminist admits, needs men and it will die without them. Wow.

So what to do about it? Paglia suggests a “revalorization” of traditionally masculine trades, such as construction, electrical, and plumbing work, which pay well enough but don’t come with the PC cache of a college degree. Well, that’s a start, but what I’d really like to see is a “revalorization” of traditionally masculine virtues.

We have too many guys, even in the church, afraid to be men. We need men not afraid to be strong risk-takers, to be courageous, to take responsibility, who are self-controlled, gentle leaders and willing providers. We need these real men in our homes and the public square, in churches and in neighborhoods. Remember, God made us male and female. We need both.

Now I realize I may be walking on thin ice here, because virtue is not gender specific. Women can also be strong! I pray my own daughters will be bold risk-takers for the kingdom—but as women, not as men.

Come to BreakPoint.org for some strong Christian resources and good reads on masculinity, what it means to be a man—for men and for boys. . . because we need strong women and strong men. In fact, Western civilization depends upon it. Just ask Camille Paglia.

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Men and Women, Worship and Life

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Vocation, tagged baptism, boyhood, boys and girls, Christianity, church attendance, complementary sexes, divine worship, feminism, gender differences, godly manhood, liturgy, raising boys by design, spiritual warfare on January 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Often, after leading a Titus 2 Retreat, I am asked if I will say a few encouraging words to the husbands and male members of the sponsoring congregation or group. This is important to me. As an ezer, a helper by creation and nature, it is natural for me to want to help and encourage the very men who are so different from me. It has been said that male and female are the two eyes of the universe. I believe both are needed for a proper perspective.

Before I encourage the men to be the good stewards and defenders of life that God calls them to be, I apologize to them for the folly of women. The feminist movement baptizes in the name of humanistic narcissism. It pits women against men and places children in harm’s way. But Christianity baptizes in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It clothes even an infant girl in the righteous robe of Christ, washes away sin, begins to work a good conscience, and makes her an heir of The Promise. Daughters of God in Christ do not have to demean or compete with men in order to be persons of influence.

Radical feminism has done great harm, in particular, to boys. Insisting that “equal means being the same” has left girls more vulnerable and boys deprived of godly manhood. To deny that boys learn, process and respond differently than girls weakens society and hurts us all. It shows in the modern classroom. Almost twice as many boys as girls struggle with completing regular schoolwork and behaving in the way school systems want them to behave. Boys are almost twice as likely to repeat kindergarten as girls and more than twice as likely to be suspended. The majority of school dropouts are boys. (1) In my lifetime, I have witnessed powerful advocacy for girls but little desire to understand or respect what boys need to thrive.

Most disappointing to me is the Christian community. Barna surveys found that a higher proportion of adolescent boys and men are leaving or not participating in church life compared to girls and women. Sunday school, day school and catechism classes seem to have forgotten (or dismissed) that boys and girls learn and grow differently. In his book Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow documents that boys and men don’t really think the church has anything to offer them. I have observed that the more contemporary worship services have become, the more men seem to drift away. Why? If God’s divine service to us is diminished by attention to our praise of Him, time in God’s House may become insignificant by men who are wired very differently from women. Women may be “moved” by praise songs and emotional presentations, but are men?

Not long ago, following Vacation Bible School, I overheard one of the teachers say that the boys came to life when singing “Onward Christian Soldiers”. Their lips moved during the rhyming and repetitive praise songs, but their voices raised and their feet marched when singing about spiritual warfare, gallantry and defense of all things noble and good.

In Raising Boys By Design, authors Gregory L. Jantz, PhD and Michael Gurian write,

For faith to be relevant, boys and men need to see it as a part of their action-oriented heroic quest — a wholehearted, sold-out-to-Jesus continual submission of the will to one greater than self. Boys seek a valiant spiritual quest, fraught with challenge and filled with purpose, sacrifice, achievement, and honor. Males want to connect with a God who is experiential, to have a personal encounter with Jesus that is so compelling they will grab hold of faith and hang on tight as their lives go forward. Through such faith they will find their true identity, not just as a man but as a Christian man. (2)

Jantz and Gurian speak about a faith that must be muscular. As the mother of sons, this resonates with me. I wanted my sons to respect and defend women, but not become one of us. Just as I am uplifted by the support and wisdom of other women, so men are strengthened by their healthy band of brothers in work, study, play or service. From boyhood, men need to engage in problem solving, decision-making and wrestling with the tough issues of life on behalf of the women and children they are called by God to defend. If you remember, Jacob wrestled with the angel of the Lord (Genesis 32). Jacob’s hip was put out of joint during the encounter. Martin Luther said that through faith, in the struggle of the cross, one learns to recognize and experience God rightly. A man learns, through times of difficulty as well as times of blessings, that God’s Word is living and active; it can be trusted in all circumstances.

God calls boys to guard the purity of girls. He calls men to defend the lives of women and children. It is likely, in this sinful world, that boys and men will be bruised when they do battle for the lives of others and to the glory of God. It is for this reason, I believe, that men (like women) need the Divine Service. The literal catechesis in the Divine Service, week after week, prepares a young man not to be passive, but to be engaged in the real world. It allows him to confess his sins, receive absolution and remember the cleansing work of his baptism. It speaks the timeless Word of God in Christ. It renews him with the strength and wisdom of the Holy Spirit.

The Divine Service is not the boy or man doing something for God, but God doing something for boy and man so that they, in turn, may do something good for girls and women.

As for me, I will continue to resist the foolishness of some women. I have no reason to desire the place of a man or covet the responsibilities he has been given. I do, however, have my own role to play. It is my belief that I can best help men defend the sanctity of life, protect women and children and, ultimately serve God by loving their neighbor as themselves when I encourage my husband, sons, grandsons and brothers to put on their armor. To grip the Sword of the Spirit. To stay alert. To gather with all the saints and persevere.

War rages. It is not against flesh and blood but powers and principalities. It is a spiritual war for our very souls. I, for one, need the courage and commitment of men who are prepared for such battle. Men who do more than praise God, but receive from Him training in righteousness… zeal for good works… and the power of self-control. Divinely served by a mighty God and with marching orders in hand, a man is equipped to bring order out of the chaos of sin.

(1) Gregory L. Jantz, PhD, and Michael Gurian, Raising Boys By Design (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013), 12-13.
(2) Jantz and Gurian, Raising Boys By Design, 195.

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Women and Narcissism

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, tagged arrogance, culture, Jesus Christ, Jonathon Fisk, self-esteem, self-focus, who am i?, womanhood, Worldview Everlasting on November 2, 2013| 1 Comment »

If you’ve never watched Rev. Jonathon Fisk on YouTube at Worldview Everlasting, you’re going to be in for a surprise. This Lutheran pastor talks to the “now” generation but, the question is: Can the now generation keep up? In this episode, Rev. Fisk challenges a new culture of women but with unchanging Truth that endures the ages. Young women… let me know what you think. Better yet, become a subscriber of Worldview Everlasting 🙂

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Knowing Who We Are in the Darkness

Posted in Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, tagged depression, drug abuse, forgiveness, Gospel, guilt, hope, hopelessness, identity, incarceration, Jesus Christ, law, new life, prison, shame, sin, sinner, suicide on October 26, 2013| 1 Comment »

The 28th of October — three days from now — marks the tenth year of incarceration for my young friend Travis. His life was forever changed when the jury pronounced him “guilty.” He has no excuses. Travis knows that he made terrible choices that led to life-threatening drug addiction.

He remembers that day in court when the verdict was read. His mom reached for him, begging for one last hug but was denied by the U.S. Marshall who cuffed him and dragged him away. Travis describes himself as a scared little boy in a man’s body unable to grasp the reality of what was happening, yet conscious of frightful images. Where was he going? With whom would he be imprisoned? What would they do to him? Would he be raped, stabbed or killed?

Travis writes, “I began to plot in my head how to end it all . . . life was not worth living anymore. I thought of creative ways to use a bed sheet, or perhaps I could pick a fight and hopefully be killed in the process.” But God was with Travis. “The comfort I felt when I cried out to Him in one last ditch effort before I ended my life was so amazing. God really did put His arms around me and lifted me up.”

It would be easy to languish in prison, to let the depression win and the hopelessness take root. But there, in the most unlikely of places and under the Potter’s own hand, Travis has learned his true identity. The world calls him a criminal. A drug-abuser. A law-breaker. A bad boy. A misfit. But that is not how God identifies him. God calls Travis His son in Jesus Christ. A forgiven sinner. A person of value. A man with a future of hope.

Travis could remember October 28 as the end of his life. Instead, he remembers it as the beginning of new life. Before prison, Travis was captive to the lies. In prison, he was set free in the Truth. Before October 28, Travis had forgotten who he was. On October 28, The Father reminded his child, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

It is in darkness that light shines brightest. Travis admits to struggling with fear, doubt, sadness, anger, and depression. But knowing who he is in Christ, Travis also knows he is being transformed. As a son of God in Christ, Travis has purpose.

You are . . . his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light . . . once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy (1 Peter 2:9).

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The Helper Needs Help

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Vocation, tagged anticipation, church, ezer, help, helper, Holy Spirit, men, mission, women, worldview on October 25, 2013| 2 Comments »

Ezerwoman has sadly neglected her blog this year. Two years ago, she began a project that had, in reality, been taking shape for twenty years or more. Ezerwoman prays that the work will soon be completed. If God so blesses the effort, then Ezerwoman will share the news with you.

An ezer is a helper. This ezer strives to help and encourage men and women, but also the Church. Would you please pray that this helper receives the help of the Holy Spirit? Truly, the Holy Spirit is The Helper, Encourager, and Counselor.

As for all the rest of you ezerwomen — you helpers of husbands, children, parents, siblings, friends and neighbors — may God grant you wisdom, desire for holiness, and strength to shine light into the dark places of this world. Sons and daughters of God in Jesus Christ anticipate His return for us but, while we wait, we affect the culture one life at a time.

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ (COLOSSIANS 2:8).

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Where Did She Put Her Liver?

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Identity, Life issues, Sexy or holy?, tagged anorexia, Barbie, beauty, body image, body piercing, bulimia, creator, fashion, health, inner beauty, soul, tattoos on October 25, 2013| 1 Comment »

Scarlett O’Hara, in the movie Gone With the Wind, believed her figure would be perfect only if she had an 18 inch waist. Every day, Scarlett instructed her “mammy” to push, prod and tightly lace her into a corset. The experience was literally breath-taking. (It was no wonder that women of Scarlett’s era fainted so easily.) Scarlett may have been a story-book character, but the fashionable corset was a cruel reality. Thousands of American women attained the so-called perfect figure, but at a high price. The following true story explains.

When Hiram Powers, the great sculptor, was visiting in the U.S., he attended an elaborate party. A friend observed Mr. Powers watching a beautifully dressed and fashionable woman. The friend said, “What an elegant figure she has, don’t you agree?”

“Well,” said Mr. Powers, “I was wondering where she put her liver.”

You see, Mr. Powers had studied the human body, and he knew that in order to shape a female body in the outline of the woman he was watching, some internal organs would have to be forced out of their properly functioning place.

A physician during that same era, Dr. J.H. Kellogg, examined thousands of women in a year’s time. He stated that it was almost impossible to find a woman whose stomach was where it belonged. This was a serious matter because no organ can function efficiently when it’s out of its proper position.

Dr. Mary Wood-Allen, a physician and the author of a series of books for young women growing up in the early 1900s, wrote: “The reason we admire the tapering waist is because we have been wrongly educated. We have acquired wrong ideas of beauty. We have accepted the ideals of ‘fashion’ rather than those of the Creator.” (Purity and Truth: What a Young Woman Ought to Know, Vir Publishing, 1898)

In the late 1950s, a toy company defined the so-called perfect figure by creating the Barbie doll. Almost every American girl not only wanted a Barbie, she wanted to look like Barbie. But Barbie’s figure is abnormally out of proportion. A real girl with Barbie’s measurements would fall over on her face.

Perhaps we, too, have fallen over on our faces and caused our brains to stop thinking. In what ways do we put our health dangerously at risk in order to have a “perfect” figure? Who determines the “perfect” skin color? How many piercings and tattoos are enough to suit the trend-setters?

Why do we let fashion designers (who don’t know us) tell us how we should look? Why do we let department stores (who profit from our purchases) tell us what to buy?

We’ve listened to the world long enough. Don’t you think it’s time to hear what the Creator of our bodies has to say?

Take a breath. Pick up your Bible. What does God say to you in Isaiah 43:1, 7; 45:9-11; 1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Peter 3:3-5; and 1 Corinthians 6:18.

From Lesson Eight: “Beauty at Any Price?”
Dressing for Life: Secrets of the Great Cover-up
A Bible Study by Linda Bartlett
(Lutherans For Life or Concordia Publishing House)

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Letter to a Friend Caught in Sexual Sin

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Identity, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, tagged baptism, Cross, family, foolishness, forgiveness, glory of God, Harold Senkbeil, Holy Communion, hope, Jesus Christ, marriage, mercy, new life, purity, sex education, sexual sin, sexuality, wisdom on September 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Dear Friend,

It was my hope to write much sooner. I hope this finds you growing in the confidence of our Father’s mercy and love.

Our paths crossed for a time on this earthly journey. Choices you were making brought suffering to your family and those you care most about. Those choices forever changed their lives… and yours. Perhaps the sexual sin that held you captive for too long is part of the reason why I’ve been working on a project. A very difficult project. A book that I’d rather not write. The actual writing began almost two years ago, but the experiences and lessons learned over a period of nearly thirty years laid the foundation. For now, the working title is The Failure of Christian Sex Education: Mistaken Identity, Compromised Purity. I have no idea when the last sentence will be written or, if published, who will want to read it. But the book begged to be written.

Over fifty years ago, those who promoted the new concept of sex education in both public and parochial schools said it was necessary to decrease unwed pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. To parents and congregations they said, “Stop teaching so many ‘nos.’ Let us teach your children to say ‘yes’ to the wonders of sex because, after all, children are sexual, too.” They promised: “Getting everyone comfortable with their sexuality will benefit marriage.”

All that I see proves that too many of us believe the lie that “children are sexual from birth.” Kinsey built that lie on skewed research and criminal behavior. He called it science. Those of the humanist faith were waiting for such “science” to reform the whole of society, one child at a time. But children are not “sexual” (as Kinsey meant it) from birth. And we are certainly more than sexual beings, we are spiritual beings. We will live forever — either with or apart from God. The Church has forgotten to be distinctively different from the world and, in doing so, failed to encourage children and adults to see themselves as God does. As baptized persons, we are sons and daughters of God in Christ. That makes us holy. Holy means being set aside for noble purpose. We are not common, but uncommon. As such, we are useable not just by anyone but by God. What a difference it makes to see ourselves this way. Sadly, the world convinces too many of us to identify ourselves as sexual beings and that — from early on — has set the stage for promiscuity, abortion, living together, homosexuality, re-definition of marriage, pedophilia, and a great deal of sin, suffering, and separation from God. The humanists may claim some victory now, but we know Who has the final Word, don’t we? Souls are in danger… and for that reason we need to do battle with the sinful world and our own corrupted nature even as we fall at the foot of the Cross — every day — and thank God for his mercies in Christ.

My deepest sense tells me that you know what I mean. We modern sinners are no different from our first parents. Eve doubted and thought she could become god of her life. Adam failed to remember God’s Word and use it to bring order out of the chaos. Ever since, the enemy of our lives comes to us in our weakest moments, tempting us to doubt God’s strong Word. We think ourselves wise, but we are foolish. We think ourselves “good” and, most certainly, we are not. So, at the end of every day, it is a great privilege and comfort to entrust ourselves to our Savior, poor miserable beings that we are. In the morning, all things are new and, because of His forgiveness, we can begin all over again. You know this. You believed this. But wrong choices taught you how much sin hurts. It changes lives. Covered sin saps our strength. It shapes us more and more into a common vessel useable by our enemy.

However, there is hope. There is always hope! Hope came to us in the Son of God Himself. Harold L. Senkbeil wrote a revealing book entitled Dying to Live (The Power of Forgiveness). It explains what the Incarnation — the Word made flesh — means for us. Simple water, bread, wine and words work in sinful lives to make people over into new creatures. We can’t go back to Eden. We live in a dying world. But God is with us! Like Moses and Elijah, we cannot look directly at God, but God comes to us in mystery. Senkbeil calls Jesus (who is God) the “backside” of God. He is the part of God we can see. He came in flesh — to teach, to sacrifice, to die — but also to conquer Satan and eternal death. For me, this is a new way of thinking about Christ.

Consider what this means. God comes to us in the mystery of water (Baptism), bread and wine (Communion), and His Holy Word. Wow! God really has come to you and me… to all who are dying to live 🙂 I think you would like what Harold Senkbeil has to say about the power of forgiveness. May you know that power in Christ. May I know that power in Christ. And may we persevere — with our families and loved ones — on this journey through a strange and unfriendly land to our eternal home. Can you imagine? There, at the banquet table, we will be able to rest our eyes on the magnificence of God. He will no longer have to hide His fullness from us. We will know His glory in every way.

Your life took a dramatic and traumatic turn. Sin never improves us but, rather, beats us up. You have known guilt, regret and great loss of relationships. Your family, friends and loved ones have also suffered. But each new day is new opportunity. The past is what it is. We are affected by every choice that we make. Life becomes much more difficult and painful when we fail to use the Word to bring order out of the chaos of life. But no matter those choices and circumstances — no matter our sins, or lack of health or popularity — our identity never changes when we cling to our baptism. We are sons and daughters of God in Christ. Think of what this means! We really do have hope. New hope every morning!

May you cling to your baptism even as I will strive to cling to mine. I am amazed that God continues to carry me. Forgive me. Work through me. It is for this reason that I have grown in a deeper appreciation of the Divine Service. God doesn’t need my praise, but this empty vessel sure needs to be filled with His Word and Sacrament. I need to be divinely served by Him in a service distinctively different from the world… and then, in response, I can praise Him in my work, relationships and service to others all week long. I pray that you know his Divine Service in your life so that, no matter what the days ahead may bring, you will be able to say: I am not common. I am uncommon in the hands of a mighty God. I am poor. I am miserable. I am unworthy… but I am chosen as a son of God in Christ.

May you know the overwhelming mercy that only God Himself in the humility of Christ can bring to you. The Cross changes everything for us. We are no longer captive to sin, but set free to leave old ways behind. Dear friend, let us both pray for a diminished pride so that we don’t get in the way of the Spirit’s work in us, through us…

… in spite of us.

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Sexuality, the Church and Culture

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Citizenship, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, Vocation, tagged " homosexuality, abortion, Bill O'Reilly, creation, creator, creature, deception, euthanasia, false identity, gay, God's Word, holy, lesbian, lifestyle, Scripture, sin on August 6, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Many people attempt to speak for God. But it is a dangerous thing to play fast and loose with God’s Word. Bill O’Reilly, who consistently reminds his listeners that he attended Catholic school, is one example. He recently told his guest, a priest, that the whole homosexual thing doesn’t trouble him. Really? And, I wonder, why might that be?

Two thoughts come to mind. O’Reilly is a deceived creature who has raised himself above the Creator. He dangerously follows the example of Eve who, after putting herself in God’s place, spoke for Him. When Satan asked, “Did God really say . . . ?” Eve responded, adding words that God never spoke (compare Genesis 3:2-3 with 2:16-17). Does O’Reilly doubt that Jesus Christ is The Word (John 1:1-5, 14)? Jesus, who is God, calls homosexuality a sin in both the Old and New Testaments.

Second, it’s quite possible that O’Reilly has no difficulty with two men or two women living a gay or lesbian lifestyle because of another deception. It is much easier to accept homosexuality as just a personal form of sexual expression when we are deceived by false identity. That false identity is sexuality.

Identifying humans as primarily sexual beings is what motivates women to aggressively support “reproductive rights” and an American president who blesses Planned Parenthood. But with little or no fear of God, men and women worship the created rather than the Creator.

Once we have been deceived to see ourselves as “sexual from birth,” our thinking, speech, clothing and behavior soon reflect the lie. When we celebrate our sexuality — rather than the God who made us — we are more easily captive to the flesh. We may, indeed, proclaim: This is who God made me to be!

Homosexuality is accepted when we believe the lie: “my body, my choice.” At the core of all issues of life — abortion, marriage, homosexuality and euthanasia – is identity. We will most certainly have an identity problem when we deny or doubt the Word of God.

God identifies us not as sexual beings, but as holy beings. God is holy. He calls us to be holy. Holiness means seeking after the things of God, not the things of the flesh. It means denying self and, instead, being a vessel for noble purpose. This goes against the grain of the world’s thinking. “Express yourself,” we’re told. “Satisfy your natural desires.” And, in this present culture, what could be more natural than expression of our sexuality which appears to be the sum total of who we are.

O’Reilly (and the rest of us who call upon the name of Christ) should take care. It is a dangerous thing to play fast and loose with things of God. Our identity – and with it, our behavior – is defined by God.

To everyone who is called by God’s name, who has been created for His glory, He says, “. . . I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1, 7).

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Young Women Speak Up

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, Vocation, tagged abstinence education, choice, created order, deception, discontent, faith, feminism, feminist myths, foolish women, Jesus Christ, judgmental, mentoring, model for mentoring, motherhood, postmodern myths, submission on July 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Another Titus 2 for Life Retreat has concluded. I am tired, but encouraged. In a culture such as ours, the need for mentoring grows daily. This was affirmed most especially this past weekend by the younger women who attended. Perhaps it will be helpful to share a few quotes from their evaluations.

I wasn’t sure what to expect . . . considering the topics, I thought it might all be too judgmental . . . but it was not. You see, I spent my childhood and good part of my young adult life wishing I was a boy because no one had ever pointed out the joy and biblical blessing of being a woman.

I will be getting married soon and this was a great springboard and encouragement for helping me understand my role in our new family.

It’s o.k. to be a woman! This retreat really laid to rest a lot of the horrible post-modern and feminist myths that were always a part of my life but were causing such pain and discontent. Thank you for being such a real person and addressing the foolish women in all of us with forgiveness.

As I approach motherhood, I wanted to attend this retreat again . . . I love how you share with us God’s purpose and esteem for women and womanly traits . . . there is no indignity in God’s design of the woman as ‘helper’ . . . it helps to remember that Christ was submissive and that the Holy Spirit is a helper.

Many of my friends are unhappy, kind of restless and certainly discontent. They hear so many voices of the world which seem in conflict with their own heart. This retreat was like ten years of godly mentoring in just a few hours!

I was afraid this retreat might be hours of anti-abortion rhetoric. Instead, it affirmed my value to God, reminded me that my Christian upbringing is not a lie, and why my faith makes me so weird to the world . . . I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that God made women not to compete with men but complete them. I’m very competitive . . . high school girls need to know about biblical womanhood.

The discussion on sex education and our mistaken identity was so important . . . I have had abstinence education for years but, no different from the culture, it was a constant focus on sex.

And what do I say to these young women?