Hello, beloved brethren, I hope this post has found you all doing well! It’s Friday, usually I only post on Fridays if there’s something I want to talk to you all about that doesn’t fit any of my other obsessively themed days of the week. I’d call it our Friday Funday, but that would be a theme. Themeless Friday? I’m digressing…this is why I have themes. I do actually have something important to discuss with you all, it’s in regards to a statement I’m sure we’ve all heard. “Can God create a rock so big He couldn’t lift it?” This is usually thrown about by atheists and is one of the easiest questions to segue into the Gospel that you’ll get. Law to the proud, grace to the humble, this question sets you up to do just that.
The question itself has been long since dismissed by philosophers as illogical, due to it committing the dreaded equivocation fallacy. If you’re beginning statement is that the God of the Bible is real, He is spirit and will be worshipped in spirit. This means applying the attributes of lifting anything to such a God is giving Him anthropomorphic qualities that go against His nature. Thus the God you begin with is not the god you end with, in such a statement. Logic is fun, huh? Fortunately it’s not taught in schools, so we’re still going to be asked this question. Smile, dear ones, when you hear this question! The lost are asking you to tell them about God!
When this is brought up I usually address the logic first, then I answer it in two ways. First the Law, explaining that there are things God can not do. He can not sin, He is righteous, He is holy, He is not man that He should lie. Run the person through the ‘Good Person Test’ or explain the Law and how we’ve broken it. That’s the best way to show how God is a just Judge, who can not let criminals go. That’s when you can address God made man, Jesus Christ, who lived a holy life and died in our place. Grace to the humble! It wasn’t very long ago, beloved friends, that we went through logical fallacies. If you missed that series here are all the links.
We must always be prepared to give an answer for the hope which is within us. Anytime someone wants to talk about God, or the Bible, remember that they’ve asked you about that very hope, even if they’ve done so in a malicious or facetious way. We should be overjoyed when this happens, and lovingly give an answer. It’s possible that the person asking is not truly open to an answer, they might just enjoy the argument that follows. This is why the Law is for the proud, and grace is for the humble. Some sow, others water, but only God can bring the increase. Share the truth as lovingly as you can, and move on. By moving on, of course, I mean pray for that individual. Daily. Don’t be discouraged by these type of questions, or let them hinder you from sharing the Gospel. The power to save has never, and thankfully will never, rest on us. We must do what we can, weak and flawed as we are.
If you’re interested in hearing refutations for the so called ‘contradictions’ in the Bible our brother in Christ, Pastor Jim, deals with those here. Also, another brother in Christ, Tom, has been dealing with verses twisted by Roman Catholics, and how to handle those situations, here. I’m so thankful for these brothers diligence, and careful handling of Gods Word! I pray they’ll be an instrument of edification for you all, as they have been for me. If you have any questions, or have spoken to lost friends and family members and would like me to join you in prayer for them, let me know in the comment section. Have you heard this question? What kind of odd questions have you heard? As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Good day to you all. May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied unto you. I come here with a message, not worldly inspired, but divinely inspired by God. May God open up your ears today as the message is being preached and may your hearts of stone be changed into a heart of flesh. So my major question today is what is something in your life that you value the most? Like it holds so much weight in your life, that if you were to lose it you would be lost. Now, this thing you value the most could be a sport, boyfriend or girlfriend, family member, dogs or cats, money, clothes, food, your reputation, and so on. I mean the list of things or people we could name that have the most value in our lives is crazy when you think about it. Now is it wrong to care about all those things and give them weight in our lives, realistically no! But what you have in that place that holds that much shall be crushed. Now you ask, what should be there then? The answer is Jesus and the Gospel. Now I know it might sound very cliché to say that, but it is true, not just here, but also in light of eternity. I mean, if you believe in God, if you believe that the Bible is the word of God for it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,” then you have to believe everything in the Bible is true and cannot be debated. Now, why are we to believe that what God says is true, for One He spoke everything into existence, He speaks raw materials into existence, the one who wrote the perfect book of books through imperfect people, plus His knowledge is Infinite, and ours is finite. If our earthly minds were ever able to take in all that God is, our brains would explode. Let me show you just how Big and worthy our God is, that there are with an estimate of 1 Septillion stars in the Universe. That’s a 1 with 24 zeros behind it. Now take that into consideration as I read this verse from Psalm 147:4 which says, “He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.” So think about how creative you have to be to name 1 septillion stars, and He remembers the names. Now, me personally, since I am really bad with names, maybe once I started getting past 50 stars I would run out of names and start just calling them star one, star two, star three, and you know the rest, but God no. He gives them an actual name and remembers. Sometimes I forget how to spell the word apple if I’m being honest.
So what does that tell you about God and His knowledge and how worthy He is. Now if you have grasped all of that I would like you to turn with me to Matthew 13:44 which says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy, he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.” The implications of this verse lead us to believe that the gospel itself is a priceless treasure. It says the man went and sold all he had to go buy that field. Jesus was saying the Gospel is worth that much. The reason that the Gospel is so valuable is because of the blood and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus came to the earth as God in the flesh, which He was called the Son of God. Jesus was the greater Adam. The lesser Adam was the one who brought sin into the world through his disobedience. Romans 5:17: “Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.” Folks, this is what makes Jesus Christ and the Gospel the treasure that is hidden in the field. For if we are to go back to Genesis 2:17 which says, “but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” So if we look at what death really means is to have the basic idea of separation. All these factors could have been the possible deaths meant with the implication such as spiritual separation, physical separation, and eternal separation. In fact, these all through Adam were the factors that actually happened. One, ever since the day of sin coming into the world man and woman have been bent on rebelling against God, doing the very things that God hates. The thing in which God hates is sin. So what is sin? JC Ryle in his book Holiness says, “that ‘a sin’ to speak more particularly, consists in doing saying, thinking, or imagining, anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God. ‘Sin’ in short as the scripture saith, is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4). John Piper says, “Sinning is any feeling or thought or speech or action that comes from a heart that does not treasure God over all other things.”
So what is the root of all sinning? A heart that desires anything or anyone else above God Himself. To break it down, even more, this is John Piper again and he says, “Sin is: The glory of God not honored. The holiness of God not reverenced. The greatness of God not admired. The power of God not praised. The truth of God not sought. The wisdom of God not esteemed. The beauty of God not treasured. The goodness of God not savored. The faithfulness of God not trusted. The promises of God not believed. The commandments of God not obeyed. The justice of God not respected. The wrath of God not feared. The grace of God not cherished. The presence of God not prized. The person of God not loved.” If I look at each statement there have been times and I still do when I fall short on all of these, and what am I doing then? I am falling short of the law which leaves me condemned before God by myself unless I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. But when does sin seem to enter the world and leave man and woman bound by sin, and guilty before God? If we are to look at the book of Genesis in chapter 3 verses 6, and 7 say, “Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves” Here we see that sin has entered the world and caused Adam and Eve to notice that they are naked. In fact, in the next few verses after, Adam and Eve when they hear God coming to hide themselves from Him because they notice they are naked. God says, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Genesis 3:11). God already knew why they knew they were naked. The first sin committed was the disobeying of Adam and Eve to God’s one command. Yet God waited for Adam and Eve to confess what they had done. But if we are to look at the first two chapters of Genesis, then we are to see that everything that God spoke into existence and it was good. So the original standing of man before God without sin was sinless and in right standing, but after the fall it left man utterly consumed with sin. So as we see all throughout the Old Testament that men and women of God are proclaiming the coming of the One who shall bear our sin and shame and be pierced for our transgressions.
In fact, in the book of Isaiah Chapter 53:5-7,10,11 which says, “5But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him. 6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way, and the Lord punished Him for the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, He did not open His mouth. 10Yet the Lord was pleased to crush Him severely. When you make Him a restitution offering, He will see His seed, He will prolong His days, and by His hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. 11He will see it out of His anguish, and He will be satisfied with His knowledge. My righteous Servant will justify many, and He will carry their iniquities.” As we see in verse 5 of this chapter, we see a substitute for our sins. We see someone else taking upon the wrath which we deserve. Yet this is the key element that makes the Gospel and Jesus that treasure hidden in the field that a man found and reburied and sold all he had and went and bought that field. Folks, this is the joy of the Gospel and Jesus Christ Himself. Verse 6 then lets us all know that we have all fallen short of the Law, and the Law is given to us by God, saying these are His holy commands that you shall obey. The fact of the matter is folks that God’s first commandment out of the ten is one that condemns us all. It says in Exodus 20:3 “Do not have other gods besides Me.” Friends these things can be anything in our heart and mind that holds more weight than God Himself in your life. So if we can’t even begin to obey the first command, then we already stand condemned before God and the place we deserve to be in is Hell. In fact, in the book of Romans in chapter 6 verse 23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Friends, in this verse we see the last two points of death in this.
Remember the first was spiritual death, but the last two were physical separation and eternal separation. Remember also that death is the idea of separation from something. So it says for the wages of sin is death, and we see physical separation in that because ever since the fall of man in the garden, humans have been cursed to die physically, not just that but also, we see sin makes us guilty before God condemning us to Hell which in turn is eternal separation. But then it goes on to say that the gift of God is eternal life to those in Christ Jesus, which means folks Christ is the one through the substitution in our place on the cross bearing the wrath of God upon Himself that reconciles God to man. This is the sweet joy of the Gospel. Christ is the sacrificial Lamb caught in the thicket that lays down His life. He is the Good Shepherd who was slain for His sheep. Christ says, no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. So folks, like it says in chapter 53 of Isaiah Christ was like a lamb being led to the slaughter by her shearers Yet he didn’t open His mouth. Folks, to know Christ died for the very people that killed Him, knowing He could have called down legions of angels while on the cross to put an end to humanity and He didn’t. Christ’s love for His sheep drove Him to lay down His life and appease the wrath that was directed on the sheep yet fulfilled in His death and resurrection. Now listen to what I am about to say here closely. The cross doesn’t demonstrate how much we are worth, but the cost of the sin we commit. Brothers and sisters, we don’t even deserve to live, but by the grace of God, we do. The cross again is not to show how much we are worth but shows the great price that was upon our heads that Christ took upon Himself because of His love for us. So what is the Gospel? The Gospel is that God had created everything in the beginning, and it was good. But man and woman didn’t listen to God, instead of listening to the serpent ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, which shamed humanity and bent them on rebelling against God. All throughout history before Jesus people have been trying to fulfill the Ten commandments and fell short every time and made them guilty before God. The only thing that made people righteous before God in the Old Testament was their faith, which was credited to them as righteousness. So the Lord Himself had to provide salvation for sinful man. So he came down from all glory, “who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage. Instead, He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave, taking on the likeness of men. And when He had come as a man in His external form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death- even to death on a cross. (Phil 2:6-8). “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.” (Romans 5:8-9). “For this reason, God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow-of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth- and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11). Now if you confess Christ as Lord of your life, crying out to Him repenting of your ways you will as 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” “And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised.” (2 Cor 5:15).
Jesus said, “He said to them, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment.” ( Matthew 22:37,38). Jesus also said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” (John 14:15). Now that doesn’t mean you will be perfect, in fact, the Apostle Paul says, “So now I am no longer the one doing it, but it is the sin living in me. For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in the flesh. For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it.” (Romans 7:17,18). So remember that as long as you have your fleshly bodies you shall have the flesh and the spirit wage war on each other. For try to abstain from fleshly desires and live for Christ. Folks that is what makes the Gospel the treasure hidden in the field, because Christ died in our place, taking upon the full wrath of God, and giving us His Holy Spirit so we may begin to glorify Christ by doing things that honor His name. We can only do it because of the Holy Spirit, so we thank Christ for that, for we know trials and tribulations shall come our way, but don’t waiver dear believer, stand strong in the faith, believing Christ is who He says He is, and He will come back one day and gather His sheep and we shall stand before God righteous, not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus Christ being our Righteousness. So my two questions today are, Is Jesus and the Gospel the treasured possession of your heart? For it says in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” My last question is this, are you saved? For Jesus says this in John 10:27,28, “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish-ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. So make this your thoughts and questions. Christ is calling you, are you going to cry out to Him and repent of your ways? Be sincere in answering these questions because the last thing I want you to do is to walk from this place believing you are saved and then Christ says depart from Me, I never knew you. May you all begin to treasure the Gospel and the wonderful work Jesus Christ. God bless you all, in Jesus’ name amen.
The above was written by my brother-in-Christ and friend Troy Paylorfrom Christ Marked. You can hear his testimony here, and as always beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
There are so many people that have transformed themselves into animals because they honestly believe they are that animal. They are basically worshiping those animals like an idol. It’s all very disturbing and quite bazaar. What is their reality? Whatever it is it’s sadly confusing and misguided and so dangerous.
This picture is a man that believes he was a real cat:
This is a man that wanted to turn himself into a parrot:
Then there is this man that decided he was a woman then decided he was also a dragon. His son loved dragons so he thought he’d become one. He has had several operations and tattoos and now he calls himself the dragon lady.
“Dragon Lady” before and after
So, how does a person even think they need to become such a thing? How do they get to that point in life? Should they even be considered sane? Do these people look like a mentally healthy functioning person that you’d trust right off the bat?? Can you tell for certain if they are a female or a male? Can you even tell what they are trying to look like?
Of course, I know this is not sane and not a reasonable state of mind. People that do a wide variety of drastic changes to themselves believing it will make them happy. Such as an all-over face, neck, and body tattoo or literally cutting off their ears and nose and sharpening their teeth to make fangs and even splitting their tongue in half along with implants for horns or studs for cat whiskers all to get the look they want.
What state of mind are they in that this seems reasonable to them? Well, the obvious answer for us Christians is they are of the World.
1 John 2:15-17~Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
The world use to say it was a mental condition but today sadly the world has accepted this behavior. The world now says proudly that this is who they are and want to be and we have to accept it. To make themselves happy and feel complete they believe transforming themselves into something else is how they feel happy. But if we need to put a name to this we would call this, “Species Dysphoria”.
From Wikipedia, it’s the experience of dysphoria, sometimes including Clinical lycanthropy (delusion or hallucination of one’s self as an animal) and dysmorphia (excessive concern over one’s body image), associated with the feeling that one’s body is of the wrong species. Related to “BDD” Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known as body dysmorphia or dysmorphic syndrome, but originally termed dystrophy phobia, is a mental disorder characterized by an obsessive preoccupation that some aspect of one’s own appearance is severely flawed and warrants exceptional measures to hide or fix it.
In recent years many people that have embraced this lifestyle can’t even accept that there are only 2 genders. They just will not believe there is just male and female but instead, argue over and over there are from 4 to over 8 or more different genders today as you can see explained in this link below.
However, what God calls this is a debased mind! Romans 1:18-32~ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
God is even including those people that “give approval” to these sinful lifestyles and practices. Yikes! I think about all the (self-proclaimed) Christians and churches out there that have given their stamp of approval to all these types of living (LGBTQ as well as the Species Dysphoria ). Anyone that gives approval will become part of those who will face God’s wrath.
Below is an audio review of Jen Hatmaker and Max Lucado giving their approval of the LGBTQ lifestyle and saying how great the LGBTQ are and how loving they are because they do such good things for their community. Sadly, all they are doing is loving people into HELL. Let me just say it doesn’t matter to God. If they do not have salvation in God then they will not go to heaven no matter how many great things they do (Matthew 7:22-23)
The world has become so changed and more frightening now because it has accepted these lifestyles and has even allowed LGBTQ to use whatever bathroom they feel comfortable in, not giving a second thought to those of us that don’t feel comfortable in bathrooms now. Sadly, making them potentially unsafe and putting us in a frightening position.
I’m guessing, if people with Species Dysphoria were to use any restroom, they would have problems in both. I know if they were ever in a bathroom when I had toddlers, my kids would have freaked out and started screaming and crying guaranteed.
How is altering your body because you identify as a cat, parrot, or dragon any different than altering your body just as drastically to look like the opposite sex? Nothing really! The point is, transgenders are just as obsessed over becoming the opposite sex as people with Species Dysphoria are in becoming animals. The only difference is, the image they want for themself.
What I find equally bazaar is the accusations that there is something wrong with those of us that don’t like this stuff and don’t support it. Yeah, something is wrong with us!
People that alter their looks so drastically are patted on the back and told they are being brave, being a hero or bold or true to themselves yet when people like me don’t agree they say we just don’t understand and call us shallow, narrow-minded and even stupid. They say that we are the ones that have issues and I guess that makes us the bad person.
People with Species Dysphoria show that they are unstable and have a mental disorder. This also goes for those that are transgender which is called “Gender Dysphoria”. They both believe a lie and think they are something they are not. I’m not saying this to be mean but instead trying to show how obviously backward this is. They have insisted that everyone accept what they perceive as truth to them. Their reality is not our reality and they need us to accept their reality as our truth so they can accept themselves. It’s forced on us or they will shame us and attack us if we don’t agree. Pretending this is ok, is a problem and not loving. I know what I’m saying will upset many because some that might read this either struggle with their identity or they love someone that does. This is a very hard subject to talk about but please understand that this is not my goal.
We that are Christian know this lifestyle is wrong and we know God can help them find freedom from that lifestyle. Those of us that don’t agree, struggle just as much because we know this is just not normal and it does concern us greatly. Corinthians 14:33 tells us that God is not the author of confusion, it’s Satan, it’s him that deceives.
Transgenders are basically in denial because they are trying to be someone they truly are not, yet most of them say they are being true to themselves. Think about that, they are not being true to themselves just because they “came out of the closet” and entertain the idea of being homosexual or turn themselves into a cat. Instead, it’s far from that. How is it being true to yourself when you can’t accept who you were born as? They are always saying accept who we are but what is sad is they can’t even accept themselves.
This is Satan at his best when he lies to people and deceives people into believing they are something they are not. Satan is the deceiver and masquerades as the light. Tricking people into believing this is what they need to do and is good. When those individuals transform into something else, it’s not true, it’s lies. The problem isn’t that others are denying them; it’s that they are denying themselves. It’s NOT who they truly are and its pure deception. Both groups, whether, it’s transforming into an animal or becoming the opposite gender, both groups want to alter their appearance.
When you compare the two groups the worst most deceiving one by far is those with Gender Dysphoria (transgenders) because they still look like a human and most can’t tell they’ve changed sexes and that is very, very deceiving.
The people that have “Species Dysphoria”, don’t even try to look human anymore. With “Gender Dysphoria” the transgender lifestyle is more deceiving because they trick others into believing they are a male when instead they were born a female and vis versa. They want to look as much as the opposite sex as possible.
Many have said in support of transgenders and homosexuals that there is nothing wrong with transgenders wanting to be who they are and becoming the opposite sex and wanting to be loved but as more and more have started living this way, concerns of how harmful this can be to those that are innocent come to mind. How confusing this is to those that find out they had been deceived when dating someone like that. I’ve read different stories where some transgenders look so much like the opposite sex that they can meet a person, date them for a while and the person they are dating doesn’t even know they are dating a transgender. The person thinks they are dating someone of the opposite sex. I don’t know about you but that should be against the law. I feel so bad for them cuz it can be very devastating for that person to find out they have been dating a transgender. How devastating to be so deceived and lied too in such a horrible way. It’s a violation of that person’s trust and a violation in many more ways because of obvious reasons and should be a crime. Do they even know how that could mess with a person’s mind to deceive another person like that?
I had a conversation with a person that supports the gender bathroom change and they showed me this picture below of what looked to be a normal man and woman and said, “So, do you want him in the ladies restroom cuz they were born a female?” I was so insulted because it was like they felt that statement was all it would take to prove their point.
Listen, that man that changed his looks to look like a woman brought this all on himself and it shouldn’t be our issue to deal with. The woman that looks like a man and has a beard goes out in public and now she doesn’t feel comfortable going into the women’s restrooms because she looks like a man…..Ok, I get that, she should feel uncomfortable…..But she is the one that did it….why make us change just because they did? Now we don’t feel comfortable. What about what we want? What about us not feeling safe?
I question over and over why do so many think this is a reasonable thing to do and why do so many accept it? Like allowing transgenders to choose what bathrooms they want to use. Just because their choice to alter their body has become a problem for them in how they choose to dress or what bathroom to use shouldn’t make it our problem, yet it has. Those of us that are straight have to now deal with unsafe and dangerous situations in public bathrooms.
Personally, I don’t like men using women’s restrooms. I don’t like men that look like a woman using the women’s restrooms and I also don’t like a woman that looks like a man using the women’s restrooms either…….obviously because she looks like a MAN!!! I have been in this situation a few times. I look up into the mirror as I’m washing my hands and approaching me is what looks to be a man. My mind becomes a jumbled mess. Is it a man? Should I scream? Maybe it’s a woman that’s dressed and looks like a man? It’s an awful feeling and to some degree makes a woman feel violated because they are in a very vulnerable place that is very scary if it’s just them two in the restroom.
Someday she’s going to be dealing with a very upset and angry dad and if she’s good at tricking people into believing she’s a man then she is going to be in the middle of a firestorm. It won’t be pretty! It’s just wrong, no one should support this stuff. It does nothing but mentally mess with your mind and if you can’t tell if someone is a man or woman it’s frustrating. I can’t imagine running into someone like “Dragon lady” in the bathroom, you can’t even tell what they’re supposed to be. It’s just a consistent state of confusion and fear for most people.
What’s wrong with a woman dressing as a man? Or a man as a woman? Scriptures say as clear as day…. Deuteronomy 22:5~ A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the LORD your God detests anyone who does this. God is saying (no matter the time period) there is to be an obvious distinction between men and women clothing that is appropriate to the sex that they were born as. If you’re not sure what a transgender is then click on this link and I believe you will find out why it’s so confusing.
They don’t need bathroom accommodations, they need mental help and more importantly spiritual help. Instead of paying for operations, tattoos and implants to become a pretend animal or the opposite sex put it towards a different doctor that will help them mentally and again spiritually.
Many people say that the issue isn’t about transgenders using the bathroom but instead, it’s about others that want to harm and take advantage of this. For me, it is absolutely about the transgenders because if it wasn’t for them wanting to use the bathroom they identified within the first place then we wouldn’t have this fear of stalkers, rapist, and murders having easier access to women’s bathrooms so they can hurt women and children. Transgenders are the ones that opened that door, not other perverts but the perverts are sure going to take advantage of it. However, I’d like to point out that just because someone’s transgender doesn’t mean they are incapable of harming women and children. Fox News reported in 2017 that a transgender woman from Wyoming sexually assaulted a 10 year-old girl in a bathroom.
We don’t allow a drunk person to drive just because they say they have a right to do it, we don’t care if it makes them mad. We don’t allow a drug dealer to deal drugs in schools just because it makes them happy. We will throw them in jail and we don’t care if they don’t feel happy, safe, or accepted. Why? Because what they do hurts other people! This bathroom law has put innocent people in harm’s way. So, is it really us that have the problem of dealing with the transgender issues? Are we really the ones that don’t understand? Well, let me ask it this way…..Does that man that feels he is a dragon truly “understand” that he will never ever be a real dragon? Does the man that gets multiple surgeries to become a woman really “understand” that nothing he does will ever make him a real woman? It’s just impossible for him to do this. Does the woman that wants to become a man “understand” she will never become a real man no matter what she does?
This lifestyle is not honest, not normal, not right, and not healthy and we need to stop encouraging this mass delusion all so they can live this pretend fantasy. Instead, we need to encourage them to get help and point them to the Gospel. Of course, they won’t agree it’s a mental illness because they want what they want. They will forever say “we hurt them” because we don’t support their choices to surgically alter themselves. But we know the truth… we are only hurting them by allowing this dilution (sin).
What is harmful and hurtful is the fact transgenders themselves push hard to silence truth to support the transgender lifestyles and even go so far as to get a child taken from their parents for not putting them under the knife or giving them injections to alter their bodies when the child expresses confusion. People this is child abuse! Anyone that supports transgenderism thinks because the child is confused they need to have injections and surgery to help them. Can you blame the child for being confused; they are children for crying out loud, they have a childlike mind with an active imagination but it’s no wonder they agree to change because they have a cheering section telling them this is what they need to do to be truly happy. Children don’t know what’s right or wrong but all they see are adults that are making such drastic choices themselves because they are confused as well.
So, those that support and encourage these lies are being hurtful byconvincing innocent children to destroy their bodies by telling them they need it to help them. The most loving thing we could do for them is to speak the truth and stop accepting this and pray for them to overcome this sin.
Ben Shapiro said in a debate, “If I teach my almost-four-year-old girl that she can become a boy, then I think that is not only lying to her, I think it’s confusing her and I think it’s damaging to her psyche. One of the premises of the transgender movement is that human minds are completely non-malleable, that oddly enough, men are not men and women are not women, but if you are transgender that is unchangeable,and especially among children, if a three or four-year-old has certain feelings, those feelings have to be taken completely seriously; we can’t fight against them; we can’t suggest that the kid will grow out of it. Instead, we have to say that this kid is inherently transgender. I can tell you, having kids, kids are incredibly malleable; kids are easily confused. And saying to a child, which is what the transgender movement would like to do — they’re having drag shows in kindergarten now in some areas — when you do that, when you confuse kids about gender, you are doing the kids no favors; you could be doing significant damage to kids. Kids should not be confused about their biology; kids should not be confused about their gender.” Link here: https://youtu.be/QJt-rbjswdM
In this one, Ben Shapiro talks about how many people that insist on being identified and referred to as the opposite sex and how this can cause problems with doctors. In this debate he says, “If it says on your profile that you are a member of a sex that you do not belong, then you are going to get profiled medically wrong. If you are having lower stomach pain and it says on your chart that you are a man, we’re going to be looking at indigestion. If it says you are a woman, we’re going to be looking at something else.”
“The idea that a doctor is supposed to sit there and profile you based on what you wished you were is insane.”
“If you’re a transgender person, would you really want the doctor profiling you based on organs you don’t have? If you are a biological man do you want to walk into a doctor’s office as he’s trying to figure out how to fix your uterus? You don’t have one!” https://www.facebook.com/officialbenshapiro/videos/1779333468770741/
In another interview, this lady, Dr. Cretella, has a 2 min video below explaining that there are proven biological differences between men and women that are hardwired into our DNA and explains the problem comes from the mind, thoughts and feelings not from our DNA. She also makes a great point about how there is a disorder where some people believe they are an amputee trapped in a healthy body and they actually want to cut off their arm or leg which this desire is deemed to be a mental illness but ironically if you want to cut off the parts of your body that make you a specific gender then that’s perfectly fine, you don’t have a mental illness. https://youtu.be/k2-e_wJthmk
“Modern psychologists use hundreds of counseling models and techniques based on a myriad of conflicting theories, so it is impossible to speak of psychotherapy as if it were a unified and consistent science. But the basis of modern psychology can be summarized in several commonly held ideas that have their roots in early Freudian humanism. These are the very same ideas many Christians are zealously attempting to synthesize with biblical truth:
*Comments in round brackets are my own comments, not MacArthur’s*
~Human nature is basically good.
(In the beginning, the nature of humans (Adam and Eve) were perfect when they were created by God (Genesis 1:31), but then they sin against God and because of that, all humans were born into sin and now have a sinful nature. It says in Mark 10:18 “No one is good except God alone.” In Isaiah 64:6 it says, that we are all unclean and all our righteousness are filthy rags)
~People have the answers to their problems inside them.
(No…the Scriptures do. People’s “problems” are brought on by worldly ways and ultimately are only solved through knowing Scriptures and Jesus. We read in Scriptures that God did not create sin which is where much of our problems come from whether brought on by someone else or ourselves. Sin is evil and only God can help us combat it. With God and through Scriptures, we learn that God can protect us, warn us, guide us, and help us out of it. Someday, God will defeat evil forever. Besides God says our hearts are wicked.” Genesis 6:5~ And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Jeremiah 17:9, KJV~ “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”)
~A person’s past is the key to understanding and correcting attitudes and actions.
(Knowing Christ is the key. Scriptures say that our “attitudes” and “actions” should imitate that of Christ Jesus. Understanding your attitude and actions may require you to correct it by reading Scriptures in how Jesus served others and was selfless and humble in doing so. Philippians 2:3-4~ “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others”.)
~An individual’s problems are the result of what someone else has done to him or her.
(We will find healing from problems when we rely on God and focus on Him. If you have a problem because of what someone else did to you then God promises in His Word in Romans 8:28~ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. This goes for any painful events of the past in our lives. We need to work at not having bitterness or a pity party because of our problems. We don’t want to remain in that but we should learn to rise above the problem and start to forgive. Ephesians 4:32~Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.)
~Human problems can be purely psychological in nature, unrelated to any spiritual or physical condition.
(Romans 8:5–6~ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. When Adam sinned, we are naturally inclined to sin because we have inherited Adam’s sin. It is such a spiritual corruption it can be a heavy burden and problem to all. Every one of us has been born with a sinful nature. James 1:13-15~When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.)
~Deep-seated problems can be solved only by professional counselors using therapy.
(No, problems of any degree is solved using Scriptures. The Word says in Hebrews 4:12 ~For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. only the salvation of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit can cure what truly ails the soul. A counselor who turns to Scriptures and directs someone to Jesus through the use of the Bible understands that the key is Jesus because He is the healer for all problems. Psalm 103:3-6 ~who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.)
~Scripture, prayer, and the Holy Spirit are inadequate and simplistic resources for solving certain types of problems.
(You will struggle with problems all your life but if you ever look at God as inadequate to help you then you will not find peace from it and God will turn you over to your sin. 2 Timothy 3:16-17~All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.)
Those and other similar godless theories have filtered into the church from the assorted stuff in the psychological tank. Tragically, they are having a profound and disturbing effect on the church’s approach to helping people. Many sincere Christians are seriously off track in their understanding of what counseling is and what it is supposed to accomplish.”
As I sit here typing this all out I see how these misguided individuals want so badly to become a new creation, something new and different. Can I suggest that only with God it is possible to transform into something new, with a renewing of your mind as well?
2 Corinthians 5:17~therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
In 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 it explains that we all have earthly bodies that the Bible describes as tents. Those of us found in Christ will receive a heavenly, eternal body made just for us by God. Humans are fragile and weak in our earthly bodies and we can hurt ourselves easily. Our bodies break down with every passing year and become weaker and weaker. The older we get we begin to feel aches and pains, we moan when our backs hurt or groan if we can’t do what we use to do. We often become sick and if we are blessed, we overcome it but it doesn’t mean you’ll never get sick again, you probably will. Eventually, we will pass on from this world. But …if we are found in Christ we will receive new bodies.
God tells us in Romans 12:2 ~ Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The most loving thing we could do for those that live this way is to speak the truth and stop supporting this way of life. We all should pray for them to overcome these dilutions and share the gospel with them because that is the only way they can overcome their struggles. Without Christ, they will continue in that delusion and it will destroy their soul. For those out there that live as a homosexual or transgender with “Gender Dysphoria” or even “Species Dysphoria” or anything that God has called sin….there is a way out of that lifestyle and that is through Jesus Christ. Take comfort in knowing God made you exactly the way He wanted you. Do not change it through injections or surgery but through Christ. Genesis 1:27–28~ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them.
Psalm 139:13~ For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
“As Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The reality of sin needs to be acknowledged by all who approach the throne of God for salvation. A sinner must acknowledge the hopelessness of his guilt before God in order for forgiveness to take place, and he must understand that the “wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Jesus lived the sinless life that we could never live (1 Peter 2:22), and, because of that, He is the only one who could die a substitutionary death for the sinner. Sin against an infinite God requires an infinite sacrifice. Therefore, either man, who is finite, must pay the penalty for an infinite length of time in hell, or the infinite Christ must pay for it once. Jesus went to the cross to pay the debt we owe to God for our sin, and those who are covered by His sacrifice will inherit the kingdom of God as sons of the king (John 1:12).
Only He who created life can resurrect it after death, only He can reverse the hideousness that is death itself, and only He can remove the sting that is death and the victory that is the grave’s (1 Corinthians 15:54–55).
Finally, Christ offers His salvation as a free gift (Romans 5:15; 6:23), that can only be received by faith, apart from any works or merit on our part (Ephesians 2:8–9). As the apostle, Paul tells us, the gospel is “the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16). The same inspired author tells us, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).”
May you find freedom in Christ!
Above is an article written by Tami Dykes, Gina and Tami write Through the Narrow here at Tulips & Honey Hub. They’ll be posting articles every other Tuesday, accept for this week as I was unable to post yesterday. Both are published authors, and you can find Tami’s book here, and Gina’s book here. We’re blessed to have them apart of our team, and pray their writing will be as edifying to you as it is to us. – Lauren Hereford
Today’s episode covers several different points of evangelism, because our guest, Jenifer Pepling, has done a lot. She explains how she came to faith, how she began evangelizing at local college campus’, and eventually began working for CCN Change Your Campus. Then she teamed up with Gospel Partner’s Media, who puts together Wretched Radio, and was working on getting What Time is Purple out to everyone, before the pandemic. She was still kind enough to join me on the program to discuss sharing the Gospel with college students, as well as many other fun stuff. I hope this episode will be edifying, and encouraging for anyone who struggles with evangelism.
“”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17 ESV
Hello to all, may mercy, peace and love be multiplied unto you. So thankful for you all who take the time out of your day to read this, but also thankful for the Godhead, the providential hand of God the Father, the Redemption of sinners through the Blood of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit in sanctifying Christ’s sheep who He shall not lose. But this text right here, I want to draw your attention to is Christ speaking, now he lists the fruit first, he says “if you love me,” and the only way for us to love Christ is by the indwelling Holy Spirit. It’s a supernatural thing to love God, natural man cannot seek or love God. “no one understands; no one seeks for God.”Romans 3:11 ESV. With this being the case Christ says love, now I should really give two major notices here that I believe to be very important, there is a root and then a tree, the root of it being the Holy Spirit for as I said before without it you cannot love or seek God. Now the tree is love for God. Now this dear friends is what I say will if you keep nourishing your heart soul and mind in the word by the grace of God be a Grand Oak tree, only by the grace of God.
Now there is something to be noticed, those in Christ aren’t under law, but under Grace, but the believer doesn’t have an urge to abolish the law of God, because he is a new creature that has new heart that seeks and desires to glorify God. The next verse, Jesus ask the Father on our behalf for the Holy Spirit which is the helper to be with us. He tells us what the Spirit even brings, the truth, it helps us acknowledge the truth, then makes a conclusion most people have a misconception about today. The Holy Spirit isn’t in the non believers, but only in those who believe in Jesus Christ. The reason unbelievers don’t have it is because they believe it to be foolishness, but becoming wise in their own eyes they became fools.
John-chapter14-verses15to17
Jesus also says something to believers, He says we know the Holy Spirit, why? Because he dwells with us and in us. Sees all that we do and think and convicts us with the truth always leading to the finished work of Christ, urging repentance. But my question to those lost is who may not know or do know is that do you know you are dead in your sins, walking the course of this world? Do you know the wages of sin is death? Even one sin leads to death, Hell, the eternal fire. So the gospel is this, and be careful and heed this for it is the most important thing ever, that God in the beginning made everything good and gave man one command, and man willfully sinned against God. Because of this man has original sin in them where we have the sinful nature, we never had what Adam did before the fall? Communion with God and immortality and a right standing before God. Because of the fall we lost all of this and because God is so Holy, He can’t look upon sin.
Mankind continually after the law was given fall utterly short of the law, but at the right time sent Christ, the Son of God, born of a virgin, sinless life, dying in our place for our sins and resurrecting the third day so that all who believe in Him May be given His righteousness as they stand before God. Then they shall be with Him in eternity at Peace with God. Because of this, God sends His Holy Spirit into a person, and sanctifies them all the days of their walk with Christ that they love God’s law. But Jesus says you must repent of your sins and believe and confess Christ as Lord to be saved. So I urge you with this, and to those in Christ, continue to follow the way of the Spirit of truth, for we are children of God. God bless you all.
The above was written by my brother-in-Christ and friend Troy Paylorfrom Christ Marked. You can hear his testimony here, and as always beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Dear ones, I’m absolutely thrilled to drop today’s episode about a topic that I’m so passionate about. Michael Coughlin, a brother who has been such a blessing to me through his podcast and social media. We discussed his testimony, how he went from Roman Catholicism, to mysticism, to being saved by the grace of God. Then he explained the difference between being pro-life and being an abolitionist, as well as giving advice for sharing the Gospel at the abortion mills. I’m hoping this episode will be both encouraging to those of us that are frustrated with the current state of “legalized” murder, and educational for anyone wanting to do more.
Below is an outline with timestamps, to help you find your way around this episode. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Introduction to Michael Coughlin, a writer for Things Above Us, and a podcaster on BTWN. His show is called Be A Berean, link to the blog and the podcast below:
Yesterday, dear ones, I went live for another MEGA List. I’m so excited about the big announcement, a coming women’s conference, featuring some wonderful speakers! I also gave an update on coming episodes on the channel, and a sneak peak into Monday’s episode. Lot’s of shout outs, recommendations, and suggestions are also listed. So, below is a lot of links if you want to check any of those out. I hope this video is helpful and informative, as always beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Today, many people believe the Holy Spirit to be a feeling, something that music that really glorifies God, leads to me feeling the tingly feelings in my hands and everything and that’s how I know I feel the spirit. The way this pushes the idea of the Holy Spirit is based upon experience instead of upon scripture. Now let me make clear, today’s idea of the church so-called professors believe the Holy Spirit to be this feeling, something that only seems to work when I listen to so-called worship music. For this notion is very dangerous.
What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit though? For starters, the Love of God is displayed to us in that the Holy Spirit dwells in us. “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”Romans 5:5 ESV. Not only that, but you see where Paul says the Holy Spirit has been poured? Our Hearts, not hands, not feet, not brain, nowhere else, but the heart. Because we had a heart of stone, that was deceitfully wicked, but what did God do for sinners whom He chose to be His own before the foundation of the world? “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:25-26 ESV.
Now, why did God do that, because humans’ hearts are an idol factory, we make idols out of everything? But one of the evidences of the Holy Spirit isn’t shade, but what? Conviction, for what does the Bible say? “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”Galatians 5:22-24 ESV. For the spirit produces the fruit of Christ, self-control is something it does that is really big, so it’s not that sin keeps coming into my life and I can’t fight it, but the Holy Spirit is the one by the means of its power you can fight sin.
The Bible bases sin off fruit, not feeling, off evidence of the work in you, a new nature, not fuzzy feelings in your limbs. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.” Romans 8:16-17 ESV. It lets us know we are children of God, not by music coming on, also by what else? “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.”Romans 6:19.
Sanctification produces works of the spirit and mortifying deeds of the flesh. The main one of all is communion with God by abiding in His word. But with this being the case, what’s the Holy Spirit to you? A fuzzy feeling? If so, I want you to know that in the beginning, God created everything good, man sinned against God, God knew man would and brought about redemption with mankind through Jesus Christ our Lord, born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died a criminals death that we all deserved and rose the third day. After that, God sent His Holy Spirit into His children for which he died for in Calvary so they may know they are God’s and tells them that the Holy Spirit will produce the works that glorify God. So when those who are in Christ die, we are deemed righteous because of the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Now how are you saved, by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ in your heart, the root of your wickedness? So I urge you to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. – Troy Paylor from Christ Marked
The above was written by my brother-in-Christ and friend Troy Paylorfrom Christ Marked. You can hear his testimony here, and as always beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
How does a person who sits in a Christian church come to the realization one day, there is no God? The hardened hearts and blind eyes of unbelievers.
Theistic Evolution
Those Who Support it and their Effect on the Church
By Gina Cook
Psalm 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”
How does a person who sits in a Christian church come to the realization one day, there is no God?
The hardened hearts and blind eyes of unbelievers.
Of course the main reason anyone does not believe in their Creator, Christ the Lord, is because of their hardened heart and that they were not a believer to begin with. They are dead in and blind to their own sin. They have not been given new eyes, a new heart; new life in Christ. They are not born again.
They could have been given the Gospel over and over and have still rejected it. They could have sat under solid preaching for years yet did not heed to it. Yet, there is a certain kind of pastor/church leadership who encourage atheism indirectly and may not even realize it.
The weak and undiscerning pastors and those wolves in sheep clothing they keep inviting in.
I’ve heard many well-meaning pastors say we can’t know for sure what the Bible means on critical verses, verses that have been clear to Christians for millennia. For example, the creation account. They have little discernment, little concern for handling all of God’s Word rightly and little to no backbone when the world continues to mock the one true interpretation of Scripture. So these pastors often push controversial verses aside and focus on “primary issues”.
When you take God away from anything He actually tells us in His Word, you provide a breeding ground for doubt about God and about everything He says in His Word. That’s a scary place to be. As Satan said in the garden, “Did God ACTUALLY say?” (Genesis 3:1) It sews doubt and takes a person away from the surety and safety of God’s Word.
These weak pastors often give the floor to false teachers who are professing Christians and influential in their ministries, who teach us to give ear to the world’s definitions of origins, stop taking the Genesis creation account literally, have an open mind and be reputable to the world, and tell yourself and others that we can’t know for sure what God means when He describes creation. They support Intelligent Design but not the Word of God. I hear many ask, as long as we believe in Intelligent Design, we are ok as Christians, right? Evolution can still be somehow woven into God’s design, right? After all, taking the Genesis creation account literally is a secondary issue. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
What good is it if they believe in an intelligent designer only to dismiss what the true Designer has said about the designing process; about how He created His creation; about anything He has to say?
Theistic evolution, defined as the belief that God used the process of evolution to create all living things, is infiltrating the church and devastating it.
John MacArthur put it well when he said, “Is there a more deadly, a more devastating, a more destructive, a more ungodly act than to openly and purposely and publicly denounce the veracity of the Bible? Is there a worse crime? Is not that the crime of all crimes? Because if you can’t believe what the Bible says, all is lost. And if you think because you have a Ph.D. in microbiology that you are the judge of all the earth and you have a right to edit what God has revealed by His Holy Spirit, then we’d better run over to wherever you are and bow down, because we need to worship you since you’ve got it right and the writers of the Scriptures, though inspired by the Holy Spirit, didn’t get it right. I mean, there is no more serious crime than that. That is the ultimate crime, is to attack the veracity of Holy Scripture at any point.
MacArthur explained further why this is a primary issue, “If Adam was not the literal ancestor of the entire human race, then the Bible’s explanation of how sin entered the world makes no sense. Moreover, if we didn’t fall in Adam, we cannot be redeemed in Christ, because Christ’s position as the Head of the redeemed race exactly parallels Adam’s position as the head of the fallen race: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:18-19) “And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45; cf. 1 Timothy 2:13-14; Jude 14).” (taken from https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150217 )
These dangerous teachers embrace scientism, not solid biblical teaching. They focus on Intelligent Design but there is no reverence for the Lord and His Word as the final authority. They want to marry evolution/science/philosophy together with Christianity as if they have unveiled some sort of marvelous gift for the Church. To them, scientific findings and man’s wisdom revise the way we should interpret the Bible. That’s no marvelous gift to us, that is only damnable and dangerous.
I want to briefly introduce some of the men that are famous for championing these beliefs and are sadly embraced by many professing Christians today:
Francis Collins: A well-known geneticist who claims to be Christian and is founder of the organization Biologos (one that is designed to unite Christians and science together -trying to make evolution look scientific and biblical), makes great strides in convincing “Christians” that evolution is true. He believes in theistic evolution. In an interview he stated: “…in some faith traditions, evolution seems to be a threat to the idea that God did it. I don’t actually see it as a threat at all; I see this as answering the question of how God did it. But certainly, some conservative Christian churches have had trouble embracing that conclusion, as it does seem to contradict a number of their views about how humanity came to be. Thus, people who have natural skepticism about the overall process, who have not had a decent science education to teach them why evolution actually makes sense and who have heard in Sunday school or from the pulpit that this theory is actually a threat to their faith, have a very hard time accepting, even after 150 years, that evolution is true.” (https://www.pewforum.org/2008/04/17/the-evidence-for-belief-an-interview-with-francis-collins/ )
Tim Keller: Keller is a well known (retired) pastor, theologian, and apologist. He believes in theistic evolution. Cameron Buettel writes: “Tim Keller, while remaining ambiguous as to his own views, is a willing spokesman for BioLogos. On their website, Keller professes his openness to Derek Kidner’s theory that God forming man from the dust of the ground could be a description of evolution:
“The intelligent beings of a remote past, whose bodily and cultural remains give them the clear status of ‘modern man’ to the anthropologist, may yet have been decisively below the plane of life which was established in the creation of Adam… Nothing requires that the creature into which God breathed human life should not have been of a species prepared in every way for humanity.”
So in this model there was a place in the evolution of human beings when God took one out of the population of tool-makers and endowed him with ‘the image of God.’ This would have lifted him up to a whole new ‘plane of life.’ (quotes taken from:https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150217 )
He famously has said, “Belief in evolution can be compatible with a belief in an historical fall and a literal Adam and Eve. There are many unanswered questions around this issue and so Christians who believe God used evolution must be open to one another’s views.”
John Walton: Dr. Walton is a professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Illinois and is a member of the Biologos Advisory Council, believing in theistic evolution. He teaches that Genesis is not literal. He says, “Genesis is better understood as narrative rather than as a record of historical events.” ( quote taken fromhttps://isgenesishistory.com/gnostic-world-of-john-walton/ )
N.T. Wright: A bishop of Durham, Church of England and a widely quoted scholar by Christians all over the world, also believed in theistic evolution, believing we came from hominids. He says, “Genesis one, two, and three is wonderful picture language, but I do think there was a primal pair in a world of emerging hominids, that’s the way I read that. … the way that I see it is that God called one pair of hominids and said “OK, this place is a bit chaotic, you and I together, we’re going to have a project. We’re going to plant this garden and we’re going to go out from here and this is how it’s going to be.” (quote taken from https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150217 ). N.T. Wright is also a proud supporter of Biologos. No surprise.
Bruce Waltke: A Hebrew, Old Testament Scholar who believes in theistic evolution believes all Christians need to embrace evolution to be relevant- “I think that if the data is overwhelming in favor, in favor of evolution, to deny that reality will make us a cult, some odd group that’s not really interacting with the real world. . . . And to deny the reality would be to deny the truth of God in the world and would be to deny truth. So I think it would be our spiritual death if we stopped loving God with all of our minds and thinking about it, I think it’s our spiritual death. It’s also our spiritual death in witness to the world that we’re not credible, that we are bigoted, we have a blind faith and this is what we’re accused of.” (quote taken from https://www.gty.org/library/blog/B150217 )
These are just a few of several known “Christian” leaders who believe and teach theistic evolution and to question parts of Scripture.
Again, weak pastors who are not discerning and protecting their church properly are supporting these men and their ideologies, whether intentionally or not. They allow tweaking of God’s Word however they see fit. They improperly categorize “primary” and “secondary” teachings to boot.
It must be said over and over that this is no secondary issue.
Pastors who teach that what God says about creation is only secondary and that we are to give ear to what scientists say, so as not to be ignorant or closed-minded, or that it’s ok to listen to the teachers who believe in theistic evolution because they have the “primary” issues right, is one of the reasons the youth begin to doubt all of God’s Word and give more ear to the persuasiveness of the world. It wreaks havoc on souls.
The influence of “education” and “science” and professing Christian experts, get to the weak-kneed and unconfident pastors and teachers who start out by merely accommodating these theories and eventually, if God doesn’t intervene in their heart, into an increasing abandonment of holding fast to God’s Word entirely. It’s a very slippery slope. Once you begin to care about what the world says and allow the world to interpret Scripture, you have begun a journey that takes you further and further away from the safe parameters God gives us in Scripture. And if you question any verse in the Bible as being literal and factual, then you must logically question all of it. And that is what many end up doing and therefore walk away from the Church altogether, confused and wrecked.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
I was so excited to have had the opportunity to do a collaboration with the Guys With Bibles Podcast. We had a blast, and discussed the way we all ended up believing what we believe and podcasting about it. I hope that you are edified and entertained by this episode, and let me know what you think about the Signs Game at the end. I thought it was really fun! on’t miss the blooper reel, waiting as ever, at the end like a cherry on top! You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
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Guys With Bibles Collab with Tulip + Honey Outline
Who are you guys? Tell us about yourselves.
Ditto
What do you guys talk about on Tulips + Honey? What’s the show about?
What do y’all talk about on your podcast.
What are some of your favorite reformers/theologians that helped you become nice upstanding reformed ladies?
What are some of your favorite reformers/theologians that helped you become nice upstanding reformed Guys With Bibles?
what are your favorite books and/or passages of the Bible?
Ditto
Where can our listeners find you guys on the interwebs?
Ditto
what is your favorite podcast and why is it Guys With Bibles?
Lol same question to y’all?
What made you move from the Charismatic Movement to reformed theology?
Tulips & Honey 