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Posts Tagged ‘hope’

Hope… and Change

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Much dialogue followed the front page story and photo in my hometown newspaper.  What would one expect after reading the headline: “Mr. & Mr.”?  Discussions have been sane and civil.  No voices raised.  No anger.  Some disagreement, yes.  Concern, yes.  Disappointment, yes.  But,  no hateful words.

Then arrived in my mail a simple but hand-written note from Exodus International.  Exodus is a ministry for those leaving the homosexual lifestyle.  When others ask, “Is there hope?  Is change possible?,” Exodus follows the example of Christ by walking the journey with struggling people.  Exodus doesn’t just speak God’s Word.  It makes use of it.   Over a period of years, I have kept my eye on this organization, watching to see how they treat people.  How they respond to attacks from their opposition.  Who funds them.  Why they continue to exist.  I donate to this ministry, recommend them to others, and offer their resources.  Exodus takes prayer requests from those on their mailing list.  Following the “marriage” of the two young men in my community, I asked the Exodus staff to include these two men in their prayers.

A few days later, I received a hand-written note.  “Dear Linda,” it read, “Thank you so much for your support.  Today in our prayer time, we prayed for the two young men you mentioned in your community.  We will continue to lift you and your family up as well.  God bless!”  It was signed,  “In Christ’s name, Janine.”

Exodus took my prayer request seriously.  They “heard” and responded with a promise to rely not on themselves, but on God.  This personal note was evidence that Exodus takes the struggle of homosexuality seriously.  When this ministry speaks of “hope” and “change,” it speaks not in human terms, but Godly.  Exodus is bold in Jesus’ name because they have evidenced the hope that comes with changed behavior.  Exodus does not shame those they serve, but treats them with a compassion not unlike Jesus who reached out to include those who didn’t seem to fit this or that mold.

Too many people don’t want to believe that change in behavior is possible.  The ministry of Exodus is opposed by gay and lesbian advocacy groups.  But, the stories of men and women who have found hope in changed behavior witness to me of what happens when we stop resisting the Word of Christ and trust Him with our lives.

The media doesn’t sing the praises of Exodus and other ex-gay ministries.  But, if one is really interested in the souls of their neighbors, they might want to visit Exodus.

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No Bikini on Good Friday

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Faith & Practice, Identity, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The first man and woman were naked in the Garden.  There was no shame because both were created in God’s perfect image.  But, when Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God, they fell from that perfect image and were no longer righteous (holy) in the sight of God.  They lost their pure and trusting relationship with God.

Sin distorted what God created.  The man and woman no longer saw each other with perfect eyes or experienced a perfect relationship.  Eve tried to cover her nakedness with leaves.   But, God said a bikini of fig leaves wasn’t enough.  What she did with her own hands wasn’t enough.  Trying to partially cover herself wasn’t enough.

The consequences of sin changed everything for men, women, and all of their children.  Today, we are deceived by our distorted ideas of right and wrong.  We are arrogant and immodest.  But, God still says that a bikini of fig leaves isn’t enough.

So, is that it?  Does God just sit in His heaven and count our sins against us?   When sin exposed nakedness and spoiled a perfect relationship between God and his creation, did He abandon us all?  Did He say, I am Holy.  You are not.  I am finished with you.   No.

God had mercy.  The Creator of life had a plan that would reconcile sinful people with a Holy God.  Adam and Eve could no longer stay in the Garden, but God did not send them naked or without hope into a changed world.   He made a promise… and then He covered them with garments of clothing made by His own hands.  The promise was a Savior from sin.  The clothing was really more than just animal skins.

God’s mercy required sacrifice and special clothes.  We can think of that sacrifice and “robe of righteousness” today.  On Good Friday, we remember that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  There is nothing we can do to cover our sin.  But, thanks be to God!  Adam and Eve did not have to despair, and neither do we!  In mercy, God clothes those whom He loves.  We are clothed in righteousness at our baptism.  We are clothed in righteousness when we hear the Gospel and the Holy Spirit works faith.

Physical clothing reminds us of our sinful condition.  But, the clothes we wear also remind us of God’s mercy.  When God covered Adam and Eve, He sacrificed an animal.  This first shedding of blood in the Bible points us toward God’s ultimate shedding of Jesus’ blood on the Cross.  Every time we get dressed, we can remember that God has “clothed [us] with garments of salvation” and “wrapped [us] with a robe of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10).

The covering of our sins by Christ on Good Friday was not partial, like a bikini of fig leaves.  It was complete.

Makes me think differently about getting dressed.

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Who Is My Neighbor?

Posted in Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A man once asked Jesus, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  This man, who spent his days studying the Law, was testing Jesus.  Jesus answered, “What is written in the Law?  How do you read it?”  The man responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  Jesus said, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live” (Luke 10:25-29).

But, then the man asked another question.  “Who is my neighbor?”  Was the man implying that some people might not be his neighbor?  Do we think that some people might not be our neighbors?

The Greek root of the word neighbor means “nearby, close.”  It means “whoever happens to be nearby or close at hand” (The Lutheran Study Bible, commentary on Luke 10:29).  But, do we too often fail to see a stranger as our neighbor because we are prejudiced?  Threatened?  Inconvenienced?  Selfish?  Lacking compassion?

To help the man recognize his neighbor, Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan.  A priest and a Levite passed by a fallen, injured man.  Only the Samaritan risked his own life and showed mercy to his fallen “neighbor.”  It is one thing to speak of doing the right thing.  It is another to actually do the right thing.  As Christians, we are challenged to put right thinking into right practice.

Who is my neighbor?  Is it someone in prison?  Is it someone of a different culture or color?  Is it a pregnant teen?  Is it an unborn child?  Is it someone with AIDS?  Is it someone who enters my life at an inconvenient time?  Is it someone whose worldview differs from mine?  What difference would be made in my community if I saw — if we all saw — everyone as “my neighbor”?  If I — we — served everyone as “my neighbor”?

Jesus told the man to be like the Good Samaritan, but this reminded the man of how far he was from being what God wanted him to be.  The same is true for me.  For all of us.  For this reason, I turn to the Cross on Good Friday to remember what Jesus did for me — for the whole world.  Jesus saw my desperate situation — how far I am from being what God wants me to be — and became the Good Samaritan.  He laid down His life for me.  For the world.

He laid down His life for me.  He paid the only sacrifice needed.  Now He asks that I have mercy on my neighbor… all of them.

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Foolish Women

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing . . . she takes a seat on the highest places of the town” (Proverbs 9:13-14).

“The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down” (Proverbs 14:1).

These verses, inspired so long ago, describe the feminist movement of today.  As a  young wife and mom, I know some of my thinking was shaped by twisted feminism.  But, my eyes were opened by a variety of experiences: my own and those of other women who had taken me into their confidence.  Today, my eyes more easily see the vivid contrasts between the woman God created me to be and the woman deceived feminists think I should be.

My library contains the work of many women who’ve left the feminist movement because it was foolish.  I’ve listed a few recommendations below.   Be prepared not only for a courageous read, but to have some of  your own illusions shattered.

All of my reading tells me that the early suffragettes would find little in common with today’s feminists.  Women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were pro-family (not anti-male) and were strongly opposed to abortion.  Compare them with the National Organization of Women (NOW), or the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), or Planned Parenthood (PP) whose women consider abortion their cornerstone.

Betty Friedan, author of The Feminist Mystique, never found joy: not as a girl, a daughter, a woman, a wife, or a mother.  Certainly she had choices, as we all do, but she chose to speak ill of everything womanly.  Rather than leave dysfunction behind and seek healthy mentors, she blamed society for woman’s woes.   She was “loud,” “seductive,” and “knew nothing” about the created beauty and purpose of women.  Knowing nothing, she “took a seat in the highest place of town” and led women of my mother’s and my generations into foolishness.  “It was easier for me,” Friedan wrote in her book, “to start the women’s movement than to change my own personal life.”

Folly — the woman captivated by modern feminism — has not built a house, but “with her own hands tears it down.”

Did the women who followed Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem find contentment?  Did they help women adjust attitudes away from “me” toward others?  Did they raise — or lower — the standard for women?  For men?  For children?   Did they help younger women find joy in their beautiful design or turn them against their created nature?  Did they soften or harden hearts?  Did their demand for an “equal playing field” produce victory — or defeat — for family and society?

All that I see (and that’s no exaggeration) tells me that the foolish women of the modern feminist movement opened the door to promiscuity and “friends with benefits,” girls less protected by boys and men, depression, increased vulnerability to STDs (how cruel not to tell young women that their very anatomy makes them more susceptible to sexual diseases), mothers turning hearts against their own children, an explosion of weary and lonely single moms, and no-fault divorce.

Had it with Folly?  Then, turn to Wisdom.  Wisdom is Jesus Christ.  Look up all the verses in Scripture that describe Wisdom.  The wisdom of Jesus Christ is life-changing.  Problem-solving.  Creative.  Hopeful.  Pregnant with promise.

Was feminism a mystique or a mistake?  (Read Diane Passno’s book Feminism: Mystique or Mistake?)

Who distorted what the early suffragettes believed?  (Read Christina Hoff Sommer’s book Who Stole Feminism?)

Did our own mothers forget — or refuse — to tell us something?  (Read Danielle Crittenden’s book What Our Mothers Didn’t Tell Us)

Is modern feminism built on a lie?  (Read Suzanne Venker and Phyllis Schlafly’s new book The Flipside of Feminism)

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Evidence for “Not a Scientist”

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 4 Comments »

Mr. “Not a Scientist” said he values substantive information, not vague claims or opinions.  To accomodate, I’m offering a few selected resources.

Jeffrey Satinover, a psychiatrist who is a graduate of MIT, Harvard, and the University of Texas and has lectured at both Yale and harvard, reports some of the medical harm that is typically associated with male homosexual practice:

  • A twenty-five to thirty-year decrease in life expectancy
  • Chronic, potentially fatal, liver disease — infectious heptatitis
  • Inevitably fatal immune disease including associated cancers
  • Frequently fatal rectal cancer
  • Multiple bowel and other infectious diseases
  • A much higher than usual incidence of suicide

Satinover also points out a significant contrast in the sexual behaviors of heterosexual and homosexual persons.  Among heterosexuals, sexual faithfulness was relatively high: “90 percent of heterosexual women and more than 75 percent of heterosexual men have never engaged in extramarital sex.”  But among homosexual men the picture is far different:

  • A 1981 study revealed that only 2 percent of homosexuals were monogamous or semi-monogamous — generally defined as ten or fewer lifetime partners . . .
  • A 1978 study found that 43 percent of male homosexuals estimated having sex with five hundred or more different partners . . . Seventy-nine percent said that more than half of these partners were strangers.   (Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth by Jeffrey Satinover, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996)

Society should encourage and reward marriage between one man and one woman.  All societies need babies to survive, and Biblical marriage is the best environment for having babies.  Societies should encourage an institution that provides this best kind of environment for raising children.  A married man and woman raise and nurture children far better than any other human relationship or institution.  The benefits that husband and wife (father and mother) bring to their children are numerous.  Children who live with their own two traditionally-married parents:

  • Have significantly higher educational achievement. 
  • Are much more likely to enjoy a better economic standard in their adult lives and are much less likely to end up in poverty.
  • Have much better physical and emotional health.
  • Are far less likely to commit crimes, are less likely to engage in alcohol and substance abuse, and are more likely to live according to higher standards of integrity and moral principles.
  • Are less likely to experience physical abuse and more likely to live in homes that provide support, protection, and stability for them.

Children who live with their own two traditionally-married parents are more likely to establish stable families in the next generation.  Traditional marriage:

  • Provides a guarantee of lifelong companionship and care far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Leads to a higher economic standard and diminished likelihood of ending up in poverty for men and women.
  • Provides women with protection against domestic violence and abandonment far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Encourages men to socially beneficial pursuits far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Provides a healthy environment for sexual faithfulness (men and women have an innate instinct that values sexual faithfulness) far better than any other human relationship or institution.
  • Provides greater protection against sexually transmitted diseases than any other relationship or institution.
  • Honors the biological design of men’s and women’s bodies that argues that sexual intimacy is designed to be enjoyed between only one man and one woman.  (The above is documented by Wayne Grudem in Politics According to the Bible (Zondervan, 2010, pp 224-225). 

God created marriage between one man and one woman.  We cannot change the “fit” and still call it marriage.  Now, it is something else.  Marriage is the building block of any stable society.  Any society that wants to remain healthy and stable must have governments that encourage, protect, and reward marriage between one man and one woman.  In turn, marriage and family give back to society in immeasureable ways. 

There are countless resources for the curious.  I value the following:

Joseph Nicolosi, President of the National Association for the Research and Treatment of Homosexuality

Exodus International, a ministry for those leaving the muck and mire of homosexuality and starting new lives

Stand to Reason, apologetics for both Christian and non-Christian 

The Family Research Council (click on:  “Marriage and Human Sexuality”)

Focus on the Family

Unwanted Harvest by Mona Riley and Brad Sargent

A Strong Delusion: Confronting the”Gay Christian” Movement by Joe Dallas

The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today by Alan Sears and Craig Osten

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Fanciful… but Dangerous

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Commentaries of others, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

“Not a Scientist” has offered ezerwoman the opportunity to hear from someone of a contrasting worldview.  I don’t know “Not a Scientist,” but I am grateful that he’s interested in dialogue.  This society needs more of that.

Twice, “Not a Scientist” has commented on my post, “Questions to Help Us Think (4-4-11).  My pastor and son have also joined in the discussion.  This is a good thing.  That’s part of the reason why I’ve put myself out here — in blog world.  Some say, “Linda!  You’re a target.”  There is no fear in that.  Not if I’m a target for well-thought out words that may — or may not — agree with my worldview.  We should be doing more talking.  Explaining.  Researching.  Challenging.  We should practice building our lives upon what we think and know to be true rather than upon fickle feelings and emotions. 

To “Not a Scientist” I offer the following:

You and I see the world through very different glasses.  Our worldviews boldly contrast.  

  • My worldview is built on God’s Word.  Yours is not. 
  • My worldview does not blow with the wind or shift like sand.  I believe yours blows and shifts a great deal depending upon circumstances.
  • My worldview is built on the created order; thus, I know who I am, from where I come, how I’m to live, and where I’m going when I die.  You don’t appear to believe in any created order but, rather, evolving chaos. 
  • My worldview tells me how God wants men and women to live and relate to one another.  Yours, well, how are men and women supposed to live and relate to one another?  Why? 
  • My worldview offers a future of generational hope built on the backs of fathers, mothers, and grandparents who faithfully teach their sons, daughters, and grandchildren what God says about morality, ethics, marriage and family, “loving our neighbor as ourselves, and serving “the least of these.”  It appears you can entertain your fanciful and humanistic ideas only because fathers, mothers, and grandparents faithfully wove the strong fabric of this nation which you don’t seem to appreciate but certainly enjoy wearing.  
  • My worldview explains that the problems and challenges of relationships, marriages, families, and the whole of society are because of sin which opposes God’s good and perfect design.  I’d be interested to know why you think life is so difficult.
  • My worldview explains that everything — good or bad — has a consequence (you know, like gravity).  Do you acknowledge consequences and can you explain why they exist?
  • My worldview explains why I daily battle with myself and that I’ll never be good enough to save myself.  Do you sense an inner struggle between right and wrong, good and evil?  Even though you say you don’t believe in souls, what if you’re wrong and you really have one?  Where will your body and soul be after you die?
  • I can’t seem to do the good I know I should but, instead, I do the bad I don’t want to do.  This quandary could leave me in desperation.  In desperation, I might be tempted to sacrifice something in order to save myself.  But, I don’t have to.  My worldview assures me that the one and only necessary sacrifice to make me right with the Holy God was made by Jesus Christ on the Cross.   At the Cross, I can lay down my burdens, sorrows, disappointments, and failures.  Jesus forgives me.  Now, He only asks that I use His Word for life that changes lives.  Every day for me is new and filled with hope.  Mr. “Not a Scientist,” how do you start your days?  To what do you look forward?  What hope do you have?  What hope do you offer others?  (I can tell you: You have the same hope I do because Jesus died for you, too.  Can you believe it?)

You have fanciful ideas, Mr. “Not a Scientist.”  But, they are dangerous.  When I expressed concern for the two young men now “joined” in “marriage,” I did so because I am positive they have souls.  Souls that will live forever — with God or not.  I am positive because God’s Word tells me so.  If I’m wrong, there is no loss.  If I’m right, and those created and precious souls are separated from God because of sinful choices, then there is huge loss.  Soulful loss. 

Fanciful ideas, like free-falling without a parachute, are exciting — for awhile.

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Called By Name

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Relationships, Vocation, tagged , , , , , , , on March 31, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Abortion does not think about the future.  Seventy six million baby boomers could soon realize that the lives might become a burden because 53 million people who would have supported an aging population were aborted.  That’s an economic nightmare.

But, there’s a more personal side to this nightmare.  Each one of the 53 million boys and girls who have been aborted in the U.S. alone since 1973 had a name (Isaiah 43:1-2).

I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine,” says the Creator and Lord God

Abortion drops a name placed upon a unique and treasured person.  It is a name known by God before all eternity for all eternity.  It is a name of a boy or girl who would have impacted this world in ways we’ll never know.

Abortion drops a name from a teacher’s grade book.  From 4-H club or Boys Scouts or junior olympics.  From schools of music, agriculture, or medicine.  From the consumer index and first-time home ownership.  For the tax rolls.  From bonds of marriage, parenthood, and genealogies.

Abortion drops a name from baptism, confirmation, and the mission field.

There is an emptiness when a name is dropped by abortion.  Women we know who have suffered the loss of an aborted child would explain this if only we’d listen.  That’s because a mother knows that a child created and named by God can never be replaced.

God named each on of this nation’s 53 million aborted children.  For each one He had a future and hope.  Even though each would have been born into sin, God had for them a robe of righteousness because of what Jesus did on a Cross for them.  Our world is less because these children are not with us.  Our world suffers when people created for a purpose and called by name are considered “untimely,” “inconvenient,” or “fearful.”

But, God has also named every mother who feared her child; who failed to see her child’s future and hope; who, deceived by other voices, doubted that God is good and can be trusted in every circumstance.  He calls each empty mother by name: “My daughter in Christ!  Life your countenance toward Me!”  He waits with open arms for each mother with a broken and repentant heart. “Turn to Me . . . acknowledge your sin . . . and I will forgive your guilt” (Psalm 32:3-5).  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; thought they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isaiah 1:18).  “Woman . . . neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more” (John 8:11).

A woman who faces the reality of her abortion is in need of someone else whom God has named.  That person is you.  It is me.  We are “friends.”  “Comforters.”  “Encouragers” on the journey from the dark valley toward “goodness and mercy” (Psalm 23).

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Missing Persons

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Life issues, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A long time ago, I began to wonder: Would the generation that ushered in legalized abortion be ushered out by legalized euthanasia?  Maybe… because so many of the people that could have supported us in our senior years are missing.

Since 1973, over 50 million babies have been aborted in the U.S. alone.  What is the impact of so many missing persons?  So many heads to think?  Hearts to love?  Hands to serve?

There are approximately 76 million in my generation of babyboomers.  There are only 17 million of my sons’ generation.   (Can you get your arms around that one?)

Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you I’m not good with numbers.  But, with some 2008 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Social Security Administration, Guttmacher Institute, and National Center for Health Statistics, I’ve got some big numbers for your consideration.  If abortion had not been legalized in 1973 . . .

  • 17,250,839 more people would have been employed
  • $398,900,760,733 earned by those employees
  • $11,105,397,179 contributed to Medicare
  • $47,485,146,558 contributed to Social Security
  • 3,432,000 more retired workers could receive average monthly social security benefit check
  • 2,165,707 more people could receive Medicare Hospital Insurance

What is the economic impact of abortion?  What do 50 million + missing persons mean?  It has been said that the basis of any economy is its population, or human element.  Consider that the parents of 50 million children are not shopping for diapers, toys, or school books.  50 million children won’t require teachers.  50 million children won’t grow up to work, spend, save, marry, start families, build houses, invest wages, be innovative or use their skills.  50 million children won’t become adults who pay taxes.  50 million children won’t think, love or serve.

Perhaps, in missing these persons, we will be sorry and ask for forgiveness.  A Cross beckons us to journey from hopelessness to hopefulness.  From deception to truth.  From death to life.  When I look at my grandchildren, I see the promise.  I see heads to think.  Hearts to love.  Hands to serve.

It’s true that the consequences of our sins carry to the third and fourth generations.  But, God’s mercy in Christ is to thousands of generations that love Him.

(I am grateful to my friend, Chuck Asay,
for his editorial cartoon.)

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Too Long at the Animal Circus

Posted in Biblical manhood & womanhood, Culture Shifts, Faith & Practice, Identity, Life issues, Parenting & Education, Relationships, Sexy or holy?, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on March 23, 2011| 3 Comments »

Sexual gratification rules.  Sex — any type, any time, with anyone — is the ultimate freedom.  Sex rules the marketplace, classroom, court of law, and military.  Sex is the one “right” above all others.  Why?  Because Kinsey said so.   “Children,” said Kinsey, “are sexual from birth.”  In other words, according to Kinsey and his followers, we are animal-like beings captive to sexual desires, urges, and feelings.

Progressive people everywhere already knew they were “animal-like.”  Why?  Because Darwin said so.  Anyone feeling inhibited by a Creator God now had “license” to do as they pleased.  Piggy-backing (how animal-like!) on the theory of Darwin, Kinsey plunged into “scientific” study with the goal of breaking down all sexual inhibitions Kinsey’s “scientific” study has been exposed as fraudulent and criminal.  (You can discover why by reading “Kinsey: Crimes and Consequences” or visiting Dr. Judith Reisman.)  Nevertheless, a psychologically twisted and sexually deviant Kinsey was granted “license” to move a culture away from guarding innocence and protecting boundaries of modesty to educate in all manner of sex.   The animal circus went on the road.

Progressive and enlightened Christians filed God’s Word on sexual purity under “religious myths” and joined the animal circus.  Willingly, or unwillingly, they became “animal trainers.”   If you really cared about a child, parents and educators were told, you would help a young, “evolving” conscience become “comfortable” with sexual desires, urges, and feelings.  At least four generations have been educated in all manner of sexual behavior, but left clueless about what it means to be male or female.

We’ve been too long at the animal circus.  The evidence explains why.

  • Young women suffer a variety of sexually transmitted diseases, sterility, and depression following casual sexual encounters.  (Visit Dr. Miriam Grossman or read her book, “Unprotected.”)
  • Young men and women are “brain damaged” and addicted to sex.  (Visit Dr. Joe McIlhaney or read his book, “Hooked.”)
  • Husbands and wives, each having partnered intimately with others prior to marriage, are having difficulty bonding — relating, communicating, and working as a team for the sake of their children.
  • High school and college-aged girls admit they feel “more free” and sexually unbounded, but also admit to being “less happy” and “content.”
  • Girls raised in Christian homes demand the “right” to “shower together” at camps and retreats; some go further by experimenting with bi-sexual and lesbian lifestyles.  (These examples from personal testimonies.)

We’ve been too long at the animal circus.  Darwin, Kinsey, Margaret Sanger (Planned Parenthood), and others who’ve wanted to re-wire the minds of our children have trained long enough.  Their education has mentored boys and girls to be sexual, not relational; all about me, rarely about others; empty, not filled; hopeless, not hopeful.

The church — the Body of Christ — stands guilty.  To be more attractive to the world, we adapted the ways of circus trainers.  As long as Jesus was part of sex education, our sons and daughters would be all right — or so we thought.  But, Jesus does not wrap Himself around worldly ideas.  (See post of October 1, 2010 in the ezerwoman archives.)

Is there hope?  Yes.  Away from the animal circus.

God didn’t create us to be “sexual beings.”  That is not our identity.  He created us to be human beings who reflect His glory by living life as male or female. According to His design, male and female are equal, but different.  Our “plumbing” is different.  The way we think, love, and communicate is different.  God’s Word explains the meaning and purpose of the two genders/sexes.  His Word explains why we need each other and how to treat each other.  Then, when the time is right, God “fits” a man and a woman together in the faithfulness of marriage.  Through the act of procreational sex, God brings new life into the world.

We are not animal-like beings captive to sexual desires, feelings, and perceived “needs.”  We are, by creation, persons of great worth with minds, hearts, and souls able to control emotions and feelings.

Away from the animal circus, we are better able to see children as God sees them.  Sons and daughters… on their way to a future of hope as men and women.   Husbands and wives.   Fathers and mothers.  Grandparents.

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Observable Laws

Posted in Citizenship, Faith & Practice, Life issues, Relationships, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It was predictable.  The “chattering atheist class is once again mocking those of us who believe in God,” writes Chuck Colson.  In the wake of the earthquakes and tsunami, they ask: Why would our so-called good God permit such a catastrophe?  Colson observes, “It’s amazing how much time some people spend railing against a God they don’t believe exists.”

My son, Jon, notes, Christianity isn’t for dummies.  We don’t have to leave our brains at the door in order to have faith in a creator God.  Look at what’s happening.  The earth and the physical creation — reflecting its rational creator — is behaving according to observable laws.  Observe these laws and principles, encourages Colson, and you’ll know much about plate tectonics and how earthquakes occur.  They are a result of natural processes.

Can we stop earthquakes?  No.  But, as rational beings created in God’s image (although fallen to sin), we enjoy the opportunity to use the gifts of knowledge God has entrusted to us.  We, as Colson points out, can use that knowledge and good sense.  Perhaps we should not be so arrogant as to build cities on already-known fault lines.  Or homes in hurricane zones.

When an earthquake, tsunami, or tornado claim the lives of thousands, can we complain that God let it happen?  When a hurricane wrecks havoc in a community, can we question or blame God? No.  “Hurricanes are a natural phenomenon that occurs because of climactic changes and shifting winds and temperature gradients,” notes Colson, “all of those things which can now be clearly demonstrated to be physical laws of the universe.”  Has it always been this way?  Nasty upheavals of the earth and killer storms?

No.  Such things did not exist in the beginning.  But, in a perfect Garden, man and woman rebelled against God.  (I hear you atheists… go ahead and scoff.)  When the created thought itself better than the Creator, sin entered the world.  Now we live with the consequences of that sin: an earth in turmoil.

What can we do?  Mourn with those who mourn.  Love our neighbors as ourselves.  Help those in need.  Share our resources.  Give up a new pair of shoes, a steak dinner, or a round of golf and send the money to world relief.

Then, listen.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?  Tell  me, if you have understanding.  Who determined its measurements — surely you know!  Or who stretched the line upon it?  On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone . . . Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place . . . Who has cleft a channel for the torrents of rain and a way for the thunderbolt . . . Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loose the cords of Orion . . . Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer it.”

(Job 38:4-6; 12; 25; 31; 40:1-2)

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