Home Archives for culture

Let’s Take the Gospel Viral

2

Often, in comments on my blog, or sent in private emails or messages, I’m commended and thanked for boldly sharing the Gospel and revealing the evil in our culture. Recently, someone wrote and thanked me for my boldness and passion and encouraged me to keep sharing the words she felt the Lord was giving me. “You’re a voice in the wilderness,” she said.

I thanked her, but jokingly reminded her of what happened to John the Baptist who was the original voice in the wilderness and ended up with his head on a platter. I asked her for prayer as I continue to write blogs, books, speak, and have a presence on social media for presenting the conservative Christian voice and viewpoint.

When responding to similar comments on my blog, or included in my blogs, I challenge, “Where does God want you to be bold?!” It’s the responsibility of every Christian to speak truth to evil and articulate God’s perspective in contrast to the world’s ways in our conversations and actions.

Speaking truth to evil wasn’t just my assignment from God, it’s the call to every believer. That means you if you’re reading my words right now.

Every Believer a Minister!

5 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be gracious and attractive[a] so that you will have the right response for everyone. Col. 4:5-6 NLT

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. Col. 1:27 NLT

Ministry isn’t restricted to within a church or a Christian organization – ministry is a lifestyle. How you live daily displays the Gospel to the many who may never read the Bible or hear about Jesus.

I remind everyone: Go be a voice in your own wilderness. I can only reach the people in my sphere of influence, and maybe a few extra when someone shares my posts, blogs, or books. But God is speaking to each of you just like He speaks to me. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit living inside of us. You have an audience all around you.

You don’t have to write a blog or books, have a website, be a public speaker, or even be on social media. You have friends, neighbors, family, co-workers, mentees, mentors, a community, church . . . where you can speak boldly to support our Savior, our Gospel, our country, and take a stand against the lies and atrocities plaguing our government, schools, families, and precious children.

Paul Gave Us Wise Counsel in His Letter to the Thessalonians

In 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul was commending the church in Thessalonica for their evangelism and outreach. 4 For we know, brothers and sisters[b] loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”

Let’s stop right there. Paul is saying if you know the Gospel, then God has chosen you to share it because you now have the Holy Spirit with the knowledge and compassion for unbelievers who will experience the tribulation and be thrown into the lake of fire if they haven’t repented when Jesus returns!! That should wake everyone up who loves people, maybe even a relative.

Paul goes on to say: You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

Substitute in your own state, city, county for Macedonia and Achaia. Are you a model to all believers and unbelievers in your sphere of influence? Would people know you’re a believer by your words and actions?

Here’s the verse that holds the power you have as a Christian in this very fallen world. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. 1 Thessalonians 1:8

We must ask ourselves if our faith in God is known everywhere, not just with our fellow church worshippers, but with everyone we talk to and every place we go. A big calling you say? Well Jesus and Paul both tell us it’s completely doable with the power of the Holy Spirit living in each Christian’s heart.

Paul concludes his praise of the Thessalonians with: Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

Is that what Paul would say about your church? Right now, we live in a world consumed by evil and the tragedy is the deafening silence of so many pastors, Christians, and churches. We’re letting this happen right around us for fear of being canceled or targeted by those who have fallen prey to Satan’s schemes. Well, if we don’t speak up, then whom?

This is not a political battle; it’s a spiritual battle not being fought between Republicans and Democrats but between good and evil, believers and nonbelievers. If we truly believe that God is on our side, then what can mere man do to us? Do you believe that?

 In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—11 in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? Psalm 56:10-11

When I wrote Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten  and Everyday Brave: Living Courageously as a Woman of Faith, encouraging Christians to make a difference in our culture, I had no idea how fast our country would be moving toward destruction. I could see the atheistic direction the progressive liberals were leading the culture and our nation that was festering a great divide between conservatives and liberals, but I expected a better response from the church.

Conservative Christians need to find their voice and take the initiative to push back on evil liberal progressive socialists trying to push God out of America and become their own gods. Good can never unite, deny, or compromise with evil. It’s time for a revival of God in America and that starts with you, me, and our churches!

Jesus came to seek and save the lost and when He returned to heaven, He left us with the Holy Spirit to guide and lead us to continue His work here on earth. We all come from a background of some kind of brokenness before we knew Christ, sometimes even after, but that doesn’t negate our calling in fact it helps us relate better to those who are struggling now like we did in the past. Just like Paul says in his testimony, once I was blind but now, I see.

Every Believer Anointed!

Christians don’t live with superiority; we live with authority straight from our Creator in Matthew 28:18-20. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The door is still open to maintain our religious freedoms, but Satan is working hard to close it. We’ve actually seen Roe vs Wade reversed and Planned Parenthood defunded and moved out of many states including in Idaho, but now Satan is trying to divide children from their parents and rob the innocence of the young.

This is our time. This is our moment. Don’t waste it. Let your faith in God and the Gospel go viral. Let revival and restoration of the Truth begin with you! When Jesus returns for His church, the door will close on heaven for all unbelievers.

 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Rom. 13:11

“Blessed Lord, teach us to surrender ourselves unreservedly to the Holy Spirit . . . So we are in You, and You work through us.” Andrew Murray

You Can’t Avoid a Tornado When It’s Coming at You!

Hal Lindsey has wise words for encountering those who supposedly hate Jesus and thereby hate His followers. Hal says our goal is not to outwit them or make them look foolish, but to win them to Christ.

“We must not respond by hiding. We should not hide our eyes, pretending that this is just another societal phase, and that all things continue as they have from the beginning. Neither should we hide by retreating into our homes, never venturing beyond our “safe” neighborhoods, and by hunkering down in churches that refuse to engage the world.”

Hal continues, “When a tornado is ripping apart your home, hiding your eyes does not make you safer. There comes a point when you can’t pretend that everything is normal. If a church preaches God’s word, Satan’s world system will attack it. Your neighborhood may seem quiet on the surface, but it is almost certainly being invaded by drugs, pornography, and hate.”

Hal reminds us: “Hiding is fear-based, and our response must be faith-based. Understand what’s going on. But don’t forget that the most important part of any situation is that the God who created all things is still in charge. So, do what He says.”

Jesus gave us explicit instructions. “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Matthew 5:44 NKJV

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here on the website. I read and answer all comments.

April 24, 2023
Return to top of page

What is the Biblical Truth Behind Gender Roles?—Part 2

8

Last week, we looked at the lies being told and sold to our culture, but especially to our precious children. If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, here’s the link. I want to also add an update to that blog, What is the Biblical Truth Behind Gender Roles—Part 1.

As a recap, in the previous blog, I talked about the pushback Kirk Cameron was receiving at libraries when he requested to read his new children’s book As You Grow about the Fruit of the Spirit and how in Arkansas, trans protestors showed up to heckle him and those attending. What I didn’t know at the time of that writing was that the protestors also had to listen to a former transgender woman, Laura Perry Smalts, read aloud Brave Books’ Elephants Are Not Birds authored by Ashley St. Clair.

The title of the article, which I hope you’ll go to because it includes some amazing pictures and a video is “Former Transgender Person Reads Anti-Trans Book to 500, Including men in Drag: ‘I Want Kids to Hear the Truth!’”

A synopsis of Elephants Are Not Birds is the message “Most can see that there is a distinct difference between an elephant and a bird but in this story, we’ll see that even those lines are blurred when the lies of Culture the Vulture are accepted as truth by Kevin the Elephant.”

During the story hour, the crowd also heard Smalts’ testimony of how she used to find it difficult loving herself the way God created her, but faith had a huge effect on her journey. The presence of trans activists, men dressed in drag, actually drove home Smalts’ story to everyone in the room, especially the children.

Here’s the full comment about the event from Kirk Cameron.
“The small group of protesters, which included some grown men wearing silly makeup, dressed in skirts and heels, pretending to be women, listened to the reading of a kids’ book about God’s view of gender called, “Elephants Are Not Birds.” At the close of this sweet and funny story of a singing elephant named Kevin who was tricked by a vulture named “Culture” into thinking he might be a bird, the reader [Laura Smalts] then asked the 300 children, “Do you think elephants can be birds, even if they strap on silly wings and a beak?” In unison, and with great laughter, all 300 children confessed with gusto, “No!” I felt sad for the men in skirts. As it is written, “You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies.” (Psalm 8:2).

Today, I want to explore four truths regarding genders and explore what God says in the Bible about His creation of humans and the plans He has for them. I hope you’ll ponder the Scriptures I’ve selected to support each of the four truths. First, let’s look at some of the misinformation spreading about the two genders and their roles in relationships.

What Do We Get Wrong About Biblical Gender Roles?

When I married my husband 30 years ago, I had recently rededicated my life to the Lord at a Harvest Crusade. I committed to God to live the rest of my life as a biblical Christian, wife, mother, and now grandmother. My daughter was not a Christian at the time and was appalled that her once independent successful businesswoman mom was now in her words, “Going to be a doormat.” She was skeptical of Dave, who actually is a gentle, kind, godly man, but she feared he was going to dominate me.

It wasn’t until she became a Christian several years later when she and her fiancé accepted Christ in a biblical marriage class that she had an awakening regarding the truth behind biblical gender roles

Many people and some churches have misconceptions about biblical gender roles. The attempt by culture to redefine genders has invaded every area of life. Wokeness discards and dismantles biblical and biological truths and tries to normalize lies. I’m not a biologist, but I do know what a man and woman are and I’m sure you do too.

Gender isn’t defined by how someone thinks, “identifies,” or chooses to act. God’s beautiful design for humanity is only two genders, which He calls male and female, or man and woman. You won’t find in the Bible “transgender,” “cisgenders,” “binaries,” “gender identity,” “drag queens,” “queer” “gay” or any of the manmade genders or pronoun reassignment allegories. God didn’t use those terms and we shouldn’t either.

Here’s the truth about what God says regarding the two biblical gender roles that should guide the thinking and actions of every Christian and pastor.

Truth #1 God Created Only Two Genders!

As substantiated by biology and the Bible, gender is determined at birth as male or female by observable genitalia. Yet, today we live in a world where gender identity has become a fluid concept and at last count, the delusional believe there are 81 genders and growing. That absurdity seems laughable and yet the woke culture is on a mission to not only spread that lie, but enforce it in laws attempting to erase the reality of God’s two genders: male and female.

At birth, God designed each human cell to contain 23 pairs of chromosomes. Twenty-two pairs look the same in both males and females. The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes, differs between males and females. Females have two copies of the X chromosome while males have one X and one Y chromosome, thus determining their sex. That’s a scientific and biblical undeniable, unalterable fact!

Even infamous atheist scientist Richard Dawkins declares there are only two sexes as a matter of science: “That’s all there is to it.” Dawkins added that those who have tried to cancel JK Rowling for making the same point are “bullies”!

Once again, science agrees with Creation and confirms God is the Creator of two genders and only two!

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.” Jer. 1:5

One revealing article admitted we’re born male or female, but erroneously added you can then learn to be whatever gender you want. Mind and emotional control is at the center of this demonic lie causing confusion and even bodily mutilation in young children and people of all ages.

Confusion or ambiguity is not from God. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. 1 Cor. 14:33

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27 ESV

When God created mankind, he made them in the likeness of God. 2 He created them male and female and blessed them. And he named them “Mankind” when they were created. Gen. 5:1-2

Truth #2 Marriage Is Between a Man and a Woman

God designed men and women to unite as one in marriage with the capability of creating new life. They become helpmates, each spouse using the gifts God gave them.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper for him.” Gen. 2:18 

“Haven’t you read,” he [Jesus] replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?” Matt. 19:4-5

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Gen. 1:28 ESV

God gave women the blessing of carrying and giving birth to babies when that’s possible. Clearly only women can get pregnant and anyone who thinks otherwise is deceived or delusional.

11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. 12 For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. 1 Cor. 11:11-12

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? Job 31:15

The husband’s role is spiritual leader of the home protecting and loving his wife while wives acknowledge his leadership and both husband and wife submit to following Christ.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word. Eph. 5:21-26

7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Pet. 3:7

Truth #3 Sex is Between a Man and a Woman

God uniquely and deliberately created man and woman to fit perfectly together sexually. He clearly states that sex is between a heterosexual husband and wife. We must not be afraid to proclaim and live by this truth! Anything else is an abomination to the Lord.

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. Rom. 1:26-27 ESV

 22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable’”. Lev. 18:22

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. Deut. 22:5

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality. 1 Cor. 6:9 ESV

10 The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders,[c] liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching 11 that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. 1 Tim. 1:10-11 NLT

Truth #4 Parents Are a Male and a Female

Parents consist of a male father and a female mother, not two fathers nor two mothers, although there often are single parents for a variety of reasons. When there are two parents, Dad is the head of the family but both Mom and Dad work together as a team raising the family.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—so it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth. Eph. 6:1

She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. 28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: 29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!” Pr. 31:27-29 NLT

Sexual and Gender Distortion is from Satan, the Father of Lies!

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Is. 5:2

Often, we’ll hear that the Bible doesn’t speak to gender or sexual issues, but that’s lying misinformation straight from Satan. Christians must address the gender crisis today speaking the truth with clarity and authority from God’s perspective as stated in the Word of God, the Bible.

 Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. Eph. 5:11

Silence in the face of Satan’s lies conveys condoning and apathy to the many who will face eternity separated from God in hell. We could make an eternal difference in their life by sharing God’s truth. I wish more pastors understood the mantel God gives them to speak out against evil. That’s not political; it’s biblical! People need to hear where their sin leads.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10 ESV

4 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? 5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. 7 He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile.[a] 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. Rom. 2:4-11 NLT

“We love to tell people that God loves them and has compassion on them. And of course, that is true. Yet we are reluctant to say they are sinners who are separated from God. We need to tell the truth. Our culture needs to hear the truth. Yes, it’s easier to blend into the background and avoid offending anyone. But do we want to offend God? If we don’t tell the whole truth, then we will.”—Pastor Greg Laurie

I’m happy to report that our Idaho Governor, Brad Little, just joined two other state governors in signing a bill barring transgender students from using any school facilities like bathrooms, locker rooms, or overnight field trip facilities not consistent with their biological gender, regardless of their “gender identity.” Many Idahoan Christians, churches, and advocates like the Values Advocacy Council made their voices heard in getting this bill passed and signed.

Biology and morality should always triumph over confused “identity.” You are the gender God made you to be!

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment on the post. I appreciate hearing from you.

March 27, 2023
Return to top of page

What Is the Biblical Truth Behind Genders and Their Roles in Society?—Part 1

10

When I started writing, I had so much to say, or I should clarify the Bible has so much to say, and I wanted to include evolving current events . . . I decided to break this blog into two parts. So, we’ll get started this week and finish with Part 2 in next Monday’s blog.

Today’s liberal culture is trying to blur the lines between genders by encouraging young children to be discontent with the way God created them. There’s a small but vocal demonic force attempting to cancel and silence anyone who says the truth that men cannot be women and women cannot be men. No matter how many surgeries or hormones someone takes or how they dress in the opposite gender’s clothes, men are still men and women are still women.

Not that long ago, those wouldn’t be controversial statements, but because the alphabet community has tried to legitimize a Sodom and Gomorrah culture, young children are victimized with false and explicit sexual indoctrination and grooming with the legal approval of many city, state, school, and government officials.

Pornography is now included in school curriculum and flaunted in libraries. There was a time when those with child pornography on their computer were arrested as pedophiles, but now perverted men dressed outrageously as women can provocatively dance and gyrate in front of young children and anyone who complains is canceled or called intolerant or even a “hater.”

But complain we must regardless of what names we’re called or lies said about us. God is clear that we shouldn’t tolerate perversion. We should hate the sexualization of young children and we should protect them!
6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! Matt. 18:6-7

Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Ps. 97:10

Here are some of the books that Gov. Ron DeSantis was criticized by the left for pulling from Florida schools and are widely distributed in other state schools and libraries like in California. Are they in your children’s schools or libraries too?

  • Gender Queer: A Memoir – an explicitly pornographic book showing sex acts and marketed for grades 7-12. 
  • Flamer – a graphic book about young boys engaging in various sexual acts at a summer camp. 
  • This Book Is Gay – a book containing instructions on “the ins and outs of gay sex.” 
  • Let’s Talk About It – a book that contains graphic depictions about how to masturbate for males and females — as well as encouraging youth to use the internet to talk to strangers about sex.

Are you shocked? I hope so! These sexually explicit and graphic books encourage children to talk to strangers and seek out more sexual information and connections on the internet! Others tell them to keep secrets from their parents. Yes, these are in public schools and libraries!!

Libraries and schools used to be a safe neutral space for children, but no longer. Many Democrat progressive liberal librarians, teachers, and school board councils are adopting evil deviant propaganda, curriculum, and policies to inflict on innocent children. But praise God for those Governors, parents, child-protection advocates like California Reform, Christians, pastors, and even some celebrities willing to confront evil with good.

Christian actor and author Kirk Cameron’s children’s book “As You Grow” is about the fruit of the spirit:  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23).

So the protests and pushback against him reading his book in libraries is satanic because who else wouldn’t want children to know about those virtues? You can read here about the harassment he and Missy Robertson from Duck Dynasty, who also has a Christian children’s book, received at a library in Tennessee. A few days later in Arkansas, ghoulish dressed drag queens attended a library reading event to interrupt Cameron and harass those attending.

Cameron, who was turned down by 50 libraries, some of which hosted drag queen story hours, labeled the disruptors as a “small group of protesters, which included some grown men wearing silly makeup, dressed in skirts and heels, pretending to be women.”

Brave Books chief of staff Zac Bell said, “In coming to Fayetteville, Arkansas we expected to get a ton of supportive Christian and conservative families to show up. What we did not expect was for a group of drag queens and activists to attend and walk up and down the event giving the children in attendance the creeps.”

Christian Chaya Raichik, creator of “LibsOfTikTok” which exposes the liberal TikTok videos especially of teachers, also authored a Christian children’s book “No More Secrets: The Candy Cavern.” She planned a story hour in New York as a rival event to New York lawmakers, including Attorney General Letitia James,’ drag queen family story hour on Sunday March 19 sponsored by “The Pride Center of Staten Island, Queens Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and Destination Tomorrow, a grassroots, LGBTQ event.”

To advertise her family story event, Chaya tweeted on her LibsOfTikTok account the website to her publisher Brave Books (also the publisher of Kirk Cameron’s book) and added, “Help kids be able to spot predatory behavior. Such an important message!”

James’ drag story event went on as scheduled, but Chaya’s publisher canceled her story hour due to threats of “inappropriate and unsafe behavior” of protestors planning to attend. Brave Books felt with children being involved “we don’t want to take any chances.”

These disturbed twisted protestors aren’t happy just having their own inappropriate events. No, they want to prevent appropriate events from offering wholesome family experiences. So, for anyone defending the trans and drag agenda, think about that for a moment.

The Truth is Never Afraid of Lies, but a Lie Can’t Survive the Truth!

I recently heard a pastor say, “Speak the truth. Don’t leave your faith at the curb!”

Don’t be silent when confronted with lies. Now is the time to speak truth to evil as those subverting righteousness try to silence us. If Christians ever stop speaking The Truth, our society will quickly crumble. In our own state of Idaho, it’s been the pastors and Christians of the Advocacy Values Council who’ve taken the lead in being present and vocal in stopping absurdities like trying to kill unborn babies, letting men invade the privacy of girl’s bathrooms, or mutilating young children in local hospitals.

One of the things I do when asked to fill out a form, maybe at a doctors’ office or an enrollment form, if it lists more than male or female as selections (like the opening picture), I let them know that’s offensive to me and remind them that there are only two genders. I do the same thing if the form asks what pronouns I want. Often, I’m told it was some new electronic form and they didn’t even know other options were listed and they’ll register my complaint.

We must diligently work to combat the agenda of the current administration. Biden called it “sinful” that Governor DeSantis is prohibiting gender mutilation of minors in Florida and Biden’s male dressed as a woman Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Richard Levine promised that medically changing kids’ genders will soon be normalized and has the highest support of the Biden Administration!

I hope you’re saying with me, “Not on my watch as long as God gives me breath!”

So, what’s the biblical truth behind gender roles? Next week, we’ll take a close look at Scriptures that provide truth for you to share from God’s perspective when faced with cultural lies and distortion.

We can’t lose hope, but we do need to pushback against the lies of the devil.

We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength and courage!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

But remember . . .

 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 Peter 5:7-9

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here. I appreciate hearing from you.

Note: After this blog published, Breitbart posted a more complete article about Kirk Cameron’s story hour at the library in Arkansas. The article was titled “Former Transgender Person Reads Anti-Trans Book to 500, Including Men In Drag: ‘I Want Kids to Hear The Truth'” . I’ll be writing more about this in next week’s Part 2 blog. But I encourage you to go to the link now and see the pictures, video, and more of Kirk Cameron’s comments and those of this brave former transgender woman, Laura Perry Smalts, who tells her story of how faith had a huge effect on her journey of loving herself the way God made her as she reads her book Elephants Are Not Birds.

March 20, 2023
Return to top of page

What Our Culture Doesn’t Understand about Christ’s Love!

10

My first career was as a Registered Dietitian. I went to college for four years at Cal Poly University and then another year of internship at the VA Hospital and UCLA in Santa Monica. I had grandiose visions of being the Florence Nightingale of dietetics! I would devote myself to helping people learn how to experience a healthy nutritional way of life. Maybe even save lives by teaching them how to eliminate foods contributing to their illnesses and replace them with foods that their body needed to heal and stay well. In my altruistic vision, they would be so grateful that I was part of their medical team working to restore their health and help them remain in good health.

Then I went out into the real world of hospital dietetics and my idealistic aspirations met resistance reality. Instead of welcoming my guidance in food restrictions and replacements that could possibly save their life, they would rather take a pill and hope for the best. How could I expect them to sacrifice their favorite foods they “loved,” almost more than life?! They were angry, disgruntled, or dismissed me for even thinking they would make lifestyle changes to give them a better quality of life.

When I tried to engage wives to help their husbands, they also resisted that I was asking them to remove foods he “loved”! I could see in her eyes as she shook her head that she wasn’t about to tackle changing her husband’s diet. It wasn’t worth the battle and often her way of showing love was to make all the foods he loved. I literally watched wives love their husbands to death rather than love them enough to learn how to nutritiously lengthen their lives by changing their diet.

I wasn’t trying to ruin these people’s lives; I was trying to save their lives. I didn’t hate them. I loved my fellow men and women enough to help them fight for their life, often as I watched the same patients return with the same health and diet-related issues.

Eventually, the rejection and frustration became more than I could envision for the rest of my life, and I changed careers. But once a Dietitian, always a Dietitian and I practice good eating habits for my family and myself. I try to get my husband to limit his intake of “junk food” and keep his weight down, not because I hate him, but because I love him!

I want my husband to be healthy and live a long life. There are certain foods I know will harm him. I want him putting into his God-given body foods that will build him up and not tear him down. I’m not always successful in convincing him, but I love him enough to keep trying.

This is exactly the same love that Christ shows to us! He doesn’t tell us to avoid sinful actions and thoughts that will harm us because he hates us; it’s because He loves us! He wants the best for us. God sent His only Son to die on the cross to give us an opportunity to turn from our sinful ways not to revel in them.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. 19 And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. John 3:16-19 NLT

There’s a false argument that lovers of sin try to use against Christians: “God loves me just like I am.” That’s Satan’s lie. Jesus never said that. Jesus does love everyone, and He accepts us where He finds us, BUT he loves us so much, He doesn’t want to leave us how He found us . . . sinning. Like the woman at the well, He tells us to go and sin no more!

Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Gal. 6:7-8 NLT

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” 3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:1-3 NLT

Paul cautioned the church in Corinth:

18 Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. 19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Cor. 6:18-20 NLT

Paul didn’t hate the Corinthians or any of the churches when he told them that homosexuality and sexual immorality was an abomination to God and detrimental to their own bodies. Paul loved them and that’s why he was warning them to repent from their sins.

Peter told those who repented of their sins and asked God’s forgiveness that they would receive the Holy Spirit to help them live a life pleasing to God.

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

The World’s Futile Attempt to Redefine “Love”!

Today’s culture has tried to twist the truth into attacks on anyone who doesn’t go along with abortion, LGBQT, sexual immorality, transgenderism, or now the next level of perversion is brainwashing young children into believing God made them wrong and they can be whatever gender they choose.

Liberals or “progressives” try to bully us calling us haters or not good Christians when we don’t agree to their lifestyle choices, but it’s the exact opposite. It’s out of love and wanting people to experience eternity someday and God’s plan for their life while they’re here on earth that we refuse to agree with sin or be pressured into the world’s decadent mold.

Often, they try and use God’s Word against us, especially this verse: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31. What they don’t realize is Christians are experiencing the joy and peace of repenting from our sins and receiving the forgiving love of Jesus in our life and we want it for them too. That’s truly loving your neighbor.

Parents who love their children try to protect them from harm and now the culture is even attacking parents who will not acquiesce to the world’s perversion. Schools used to be a safe and trusted place, now every day we see videos of liberal school boards and teachers trying to confuse and indoctrinate young children with harmful evil beliefs and values.

Parents tell children “No” often as they’re growing up and sometimes the children resist and might even yell, “I hate you.” That’s hard to hear as a parent, but we know it’s a childish reaction when we’re stopping them from doing something harmful or sinful. They may later thank us for loving them enough to protect them from harm or evil.

Parents who are championing or tolerating their children’s waywardness are not helping them. That’s not love, especially when we know it will lead to heartache and maybe even a separation from God. Defending evil just because our children might be indulging in it is the furthest thing from love. As I wrote in Praying for Your Prodigal Daughter, we love our children unconditionally, but it doesn’t mean we love everything they do or try to justify wrongful behavior, just because our child is doing it.

God doesn’t rewrite the 10 Commandments when His children break them. He doesn’t change His views on sexual immorality, even when a government wrongfully legalizes it. He doesn’t decide that He made a mistake creating a little girl or a little boy or that He shouldn’t have designed sex and marriage to be between a woman and a man.

No matter how distorted our culture becomes God always stays the same. The Bible is His timeless guide for life until He returns to rescue us because He loves us and wants everyone to be with Him in heaven.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Heb. 13:8

It’s God’s will and His ways that should guide our life and that we should relentlessly defend regardless of those who bully us, call us names, or try to intimidate us. Our response should always be that we didn’t make up how God wants us to live our lives, God did, and He wrote it all down in the Bible.

I was so impressed with the Philadelphia Flyers hockey defenseman Ivan Provorov, who stood firm by his Russian Orthodox faith, and declined to participate in a “gay pride” event where the players wore gay pride jerseys with gay flags wrapped around their hockey sticks. The media went crazy and bullied him, many saying he was “hiding behind his religion.” He wasn’t hiding; he was staying steadfastly true to his beliefs.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov recently infuriated sports journalists when he refused to wear a rainbow jersey for warmups during “Pride Night,” citing his Russian Orthodox faith. “I respect everybody and I respect everybody’s choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.”

I wonder how many Christian players succumbed to pressure and chose culture over Christ.

We’ll all have to answer to God for our actions someday and there will be no excuses or any people we acquiesce to now present then to defend us.

Jesus said Christians should be glad when we’re tormented and called names for our beliefs because the world hated Him, and they’ll hate us for being His followers. In today’s world, we should wear it as a badge of honor.

Not agreeing with someone’s sin does not mean we hate them; we love them enough to want them to turn to Jesus and not the world. Those calling us “haters” are actually haters of Jesus.

16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

The World’s Hatred

18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20 . . . Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. 21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me. 22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. 24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. 25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures[a]: ‘They hated me without cause.’ John 15:16-25

I often say that being an evangelist is a lot like being a Dietitian. God does have a sense of humor since He didn’t let me get away from sharing a message that isn’t always popular or appreciated. But now God is asking me to help people have a healthy spiritual life and relationship with Jesus that will lead to eternal life in heaven instead of eternal life in hell. That’s what love does, and that’s what I’ll do as long as I have breath. I hope many of you will join me. The eternal life of someone dear to you could depend on it!

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 14 If you are insulted because you bear the name of Christ, you will be blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 1 Peter 4:12-14 NLT

13 Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 1 Peter 3:13-15 NLT

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. 2 Tim. 4:3-5 The Message

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

January 23, 2023
Return to top of page

Has the Church Forgotten We Are the Conscience of the Government?

10

First, let me say Happy Blessed 2023 to you all! I took a break during the holidays from writing my Monday Morning Blog, and that break was extended by an injury to my right eye that took time to accurately diagnosis and get correct medication. I’m still using steroid drops so I’m going to try and make this blog short . . . well shorter than usual.

So many topics of discussion have been in our news lately that it’s taken great restraint not to break my writing sabbatical and pour out thoughts to you. Even today, it’s hard to narrow down my topic but I recently heard Eric Metaxas as a guest on Flashpoint, and he repeatedly made the statement: “The church is the conscience of the government.” When I researched that quote, I learned it was originally made by Martin Luther King Jr. and how timely that his birthday is January 15 as I write this blog to you.

“The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Metaxas is the author of the book Bonhoeffer who also pointed out in his day that the church was avoiding taking a stand against the evil that was right before their eyes in the 1930’s when the Nazis were methodically and mercilessly taking over Germany. We know the atrocities that developed into World War II. The church chose to just sit it out rather than get involved and millions of innocent Jews were arrested and annihilated . . . exterminated. The Nazi’s were proficient at anesthetizing the church, and when the church finally woke up, it was too late.

Anyone who grew up hearing Pastor Billy Graham interact with many Presidents during his lifetime, knows that he never backed down from confronting government with the Gospel and the Truth of the Bible. Many of those Presidents considered Graham their confidant and pastor.

Even still, we saw horrific laws passed like Roe v Wade, which again annihilated millions of innocent lives. The extermination of children went from being a moral issue to a political football that the church for the most part decided to also sit this one out.

Many Christians and pro-life organizations continued to fight for every life and miraculously after almost fifty years, we saw Roe v Wade reversed by the Supreme Court, and yet still most churches stayed quiet. There was no dancing in the streets, confetti, cheers, or celebrations of our victory because protecting life had somehow turned political and many churches erroneously thought they shouldn’t get involved.

They forgot, and still forget, that the church is to be the outspoken and visible moral conscience of the government not the reverse where the government dictates the morals and the church acquiesces, which is where we find ourselves today as the woke agenda is coming for our children with brainwashing and evil intent. Still much of the church is either quiet or even worse embracing wokeness that contradicts God’s Words and His ways.

The Devil is Drawing His Line in the Sand and Christians Must Choose Who They Will Follow

When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But wise and knowledgeable leaders bring stability. Pr. 28:2 NLT

1 John 5:19 lays out the situation today. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Jesus confirmed the devil’s power over this world. He called Satan “ruler of this world” in John 12:31, 14:30, and 16:11. John 10:10 refers to the devil as “the thief” who comes to “steal, and kill, and destroy.” Satan’s ways lead to destruction. If our culture doesn’t change soon, it will be the demise of our country. But there is hope and that hope is found through Jesus Christ in our personal lives and in our government.

The new Republican led Congress just passed a Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act and all but two Democrats voted against it!! 210 members of Congress voted for infanticide, that a baby who survives an abortion should be left to die if that’s what the doctor and mother decide.

Two Democrats were brave enough, and perhaps triggered by their conscience, to not vote against the bill. One voted for it, and one said “present.” We need to pray more Democrats listen to their conscience.

I applaud the Catholic Church who wasn’t afraid to express their support of the bill and condemnation against those who voted against it. Catholic Bishops Celebrate Born-Alive Act Condemn 210 Democrats Who Voted Against It.

“We commend the House of Representatives for passing legislation to protect innocent children from infanticide, and urge the Senate to follow suit,” said Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington in Texas. Burbidge is also chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Pro-Life Activities. The bishop previously sent a letter to House members urging them to vote for the legislation. “Babies who are born alive during the process of an abortion deserve compassionate care and medical attention – just the same as any other newborn baby,” Burbidge added.

But where was the Christian and Evangelical church? Crickets!

This life-saving bill is expected to die in the Democrat-controlled Senate. How did life versus death become a Republican vs. Democrat political issue instead of a Bible-based moral issue?

Why do Democrats vote against allowing a born baby to live? Because voting for it would be admitting that an unborn baby is a human that is being murdered during an abortion. How many of those Democrats sit in churches on Sundays and claim to be a Christian? How many of their pastors are willing to talk about the horrors of abortion and the sanctity of life and call out their Democrat parishioners or any parishioner who would choose to kill babies?

We know many Democrats choose politics over faith just like Pelosi who always touts her “strong Catholic faith” and does everything “for the children,” but she was one of the 210 who voted to allow a live baby to die!

Democrats call it “extreme” to give medical care to a baby born alive!!! Every doctor takes an oath to do exactly that! I’ve said it before that these people have let the Devil influence their words, minds, and actions. They’ve sold their souls to a radical evil agenda. They’re blinded to human decency. Willing to sacrifice children on the altar of politics!

There are many so-called “political” topics, which are actually “biblical” topics, the church seems afraid to address. We’ve let the moral downfall of our country happen while Christians go to church every Sunday but often don’t hear how to apply God’s Word to the world they’re living in today.

Here are just a few sermon topics that come to my mind that every pastor needs to be addressing. If he doesn’t, he’s complicit in allowing the government to define our morals or lack of instead of encouraging parishioners’ consciences to take a righteous stand for good against evil!

  • Thou shalt not murder!
  • Thou shalt not lie!
  • Thou shalt not commit adultery!
  • Homosexuality is abominable to the Lord!
  • Marriage is between a man and a woman!
  • Only women have a womb to carry a child! Only women can have babies!
  • God only created two genders, man and woman!
  • All lives matter!
  • Every child from the moment of conception has a right to life!
  • Robbing the innocence of children is a sin. Better to be thrown overboard with a milestone around your neck!
  • Parents teach your children how to live godly lives in an ungodly culture.

We’re seeing some turnarounds like the reversal by the Supreme Court of Roe v Wade and Coach Joe Kennedy winning his case for prayer to be allowed back into schools. But how many schools are actually allowing prayer? Instead, we see school boards more concerned with allowing a few sexually misguided children to be indulged at the expense of all children instead of receiving the counseling and help they need. Many parents are speaking out against this travesty, but again I ask, where is the church?

A few pastors are willing to take a public stand against tyranny and two of those are Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills and Pastor Dave Ax of Calvary Chapel here in Star, Idaho. Pastor Ax, along with Jack Hibbs, made a video encouraging parents and the community to go to the School Board Meeting in Caldwell, ID where they were proposing that “transgender” children be allowed to use whatever bathroom and locker room of their choice.

Many from the community showed up that night and when the audience applauded speakers who were speaking against this insane policy, the school board shut down the meeting. My point though is where do those school board members go to church? What are they hearing or not hearing from their pastors if they are church members?

I follow a Values Advocacy Council in the Boise Idaho area and here is an example of the urgent email they sent out about this meeting. If you scroll down in the email, you’ll hear the two pastors I just mentioned, with their plea to the public, especially parents, to attend the Caldwell School Board meeting. They were so successful, the School Board couldn’t deal with it!! Do you have anything like this in your area where the church is taking the initiative to enter the political arena and protect our children from evil lunacy? To be the conscience of the government?

Kudos to Pastor Hibbs and Pastor Ax! If you have a pastor who understands the important role of the church in this fallen culture, praise God! If not, talk to your pastor and remind him that the role of the church is to be the conscience of the government, the state. We’re seeing progress as we chip away at the evil, but there’s so much more for each of us to do in our own spheres of influence. God is giving us the opportunity to save America and it starts and ends with the sharing of the Gospel in and out of the church.

You and I, every Christian, are the ‘church.’ God gave each of us a conscience and the Holy Spirit speaks in and through us. I hope that you’ll listen to that still small voice that is challenging you to take a step of faith and go where He leads and follow the example of Jesus and His followers like the disciples and Paul who understood that God is the head of the government and were not afraid to proclaim that truth.

For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Is. 9:6 NLT

9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half, teaching the word of God. Acts 18:9-11 NLT

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32

Abortion survivors blast Democrats for opposing Born-Alive bill: ‘Disingenuous’ | Fox News

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

January 16, 2023
Return to top of page

How to Celebrate a Peaceful Joyful Post-Election Thanksgiving

4

A resounding and fervent prayer request from our Bible study group prior to Thanksgiving following an election, went something like this: Please, Lord, help us to be a light on Thanksgiving with the eclectic group of people attending with differing political and faith beliefs.

Whether it was all family, all friends, invited guests . . . or a combination . . . most of us were apprehensive how the day would turn out.

In the fragile aftermath of the recent volatile election, I imagine many of you are having similar concerns and conversations. I remember my mom cautioning that if you want to keep the peace, never talk about religion or politics. As a kid, I never understood that warning. Believers are supposed to tell everyone about Jesus. Since being a Christian is our first identity . . . how could we not talk about our Savior? Isn’t everyone entitled to his or her own spiritual and political opinion?

Then I grew up!

If you follow me, you know I’m bold about my first role in life: being a born-again Christian. All other roles come second. But as I wrote in Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten: “Bold doesn’t mean obnoxious. It simply means not being afraid to speak the truth, even in the face of adversity: ‘Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold’ (2 Cor. 3:12).” For example, if someone asks what I do, I answer, “I’m a Christian author and speaker.” They usually ask what I write, and I say, “Christian living nonfiction.” My response often opens the door for further discussion of the types of books I write and my faith.

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. Philippians 1:20 NLT

So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, either, even though I’m in prison for him. With the strength God gives you, be ready to suffer with me for the sake of the Good News. 2 Timothy 1:8 NLT

Is Thanksgiving a Religious Holiday?

That could be an awkward question in some circles.

I was with a group of people and mentioned how I hoped people would set their differences aside on Thanksgiving Day, and one person said, “It’s just a time for eating a lot of food, watching football, and shopping online anyway.”

Me: “I’m pretty sure the first pilgrims who celebrated Thanksgiving didn’t have TV or Amazon.

Another responded: “Well at least Thanksgiving isn’t a religious holiday.”

I asked: “Who then are we thanking?”

Complete silence.

Of course, the answer is: God.

Abraham Lincoln made it an official national holiday “as a day of thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God, the beneficent Creator and Ruler of the Universe.”

The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.

Yes, it’s a time of family and friends gathering, but as we sit around the feast together, we can’t thank each other, or aliens, or the “big bang” for giving us life, the sun, the moon, the trees, the ability to grow the food, the earth, the waters, the sky, sweet babies, and all the blessings we enjoy.

We read in Genesis that God spoke everything into being, and yet, many of us will be sharing turkey and dressing with people who don’t believe or discount the existence of God. They don’t know where they’re going when they die, or where everything we enjoy on earth came from . . . and maybe they don’t even care.

They’ll walk out of the room when we pray before the meal and may try and bait us into an argument over who we voted for and why. Or what happened to the expected “Red Wave?” Maybe after a few drinks, their conversation will turn ugly, even though innocent young eyes are watching how the “adults” interact.

My husband and I pray beseeching God to prepare us to be a light in the darkness . . . not to avoid the darkness because that would be the cowards way out . . . but to help us respond as if Jesus was standing behind us speaking through us. You’ve all been in situations where it seemed like Satan was standing behind or speaking through the other person . . . at least I have . . . so how can we have Jesus reflect through us? Granted, the other people might not recognize Jesus . . . but they’ll see there’s something different about us.

Biblical Ways to Have a Peaceful Joyful Thanksgiving

As I prayed and talked to the Lord, here’s a list I came up with. I’d love to hear your ideas too.

Don’t worry what to say. “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.” Mark 13:11 (Jesus was talking to his disciples if they were arrested, but I think it could apply to us too if we felt our faith was being tested or put on trial.)

Speak kind words. “Kind words are like honey— sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Pr. 16:24 NLT

For your part, maintain peace. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

Don’t instigate or respond to leading antagonistic discussions. “Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.” Pr. 26:17 NLT

Play with any children present. “We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.” Ps. 78:4 NLT

Don’t drink. “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18 NLT

Smile, Smile, Smile. “Fix my eyes on God— soon I’ll be praising again. He puts a smile on my face. He’s my God.” Psalm 42:5 The Message

Listen. “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others.” Pr. 12:15 NLT

Take a deep breath and think before you speak. “There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Pr. 29:20 NLT

Less is more. “The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they?” Ecc. 6:11 NLT— There’s “A time to be quiet and a time to speak.” Ecc. 3:7 NLT

Silently pray in your mind. “Pray continually!” 1 Thess. 5:17

Have a secret sign or word between you and someone else that signals: Let’s change the subject or move into the other room. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.” Ecc. 4:9

When you’re Hosting, pray and thank God for each guest. Ask to be a blessing and to share joy. Pray over your home and each chair at the table. Before the meal, pray as you normally would, your guests know they’re coming to a Christian home. “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” 1 Peter 4:9

If you’re a Guest—As you walk up to the home, pray to be a blessing and that God will stir up the fruit of the Spirit in your heart. If you’re hosts don’t pray before the meal, bow your head and pray over your food as you normally would. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Gal. 5:22-23

Thanksgiving is a day for harmony and focusing on God and giving Him thanks and praise in whatever way He leads. Fiction writers have a saying: “Show don’t tell.” Which simply means, you don’t always have to speak Jesus with your words, you can show Him with your actions and people will want what you have!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4 NLT

Past Thanksgiving Blogs

Here are a few past Thanksgiving blogs you might enjoy reading. I do give thanks for each one of you who have followed me on these Monday Morning Blogs, and I pray you have a joyful, peaceful, and God-filled Thanksgiving Day.

Acquiring Overshadows Thanksgiving

What Are You Most Thankful For?

Love Your Body During the Holidays

I also have a Bible study Face-to-Face with Euodia and Syntyche: From Conflict to Community that discusses many biblical ways to resolve conflict peacefully.

Thanksgiving Tablecloth Idea

In Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, I share a way to use your tablecloth as a conversation piece and make memories for generations to come. Here is an excerpt from the book. I hope it gives you some ideas. I’ll be taking our Thankful Tablecloth with us this Thanksgiving to my daughter’s house.

When my breast cancer journey started, I became keenly aware of making memories with my family. At times like that, you think seriously about your mortality and the legacy you want to leave with your loved ones. You appreciate each new day of life. The sun rising every morning is an act of God to celebrate.

 Holidays like Thanksgiving have new meaning. Typically, Thanksgiving is a celebration where family and friends gather for a feast, and everyone says what they’re thankful for in the past year. But after finishing the dishes and putting away the leftovers, how many really remember what everyone said?

The Thanksgiving following my first breast cancer surgery in 2002, I had an idea of a Thankful Tablecloth. I purchased a Thanksgiving themed tablecloth with plenty of white space and a box of wash-resistant colored markers. After Thanksgiving dinner, I brought out the markers and asked everyone—kids included—to find a spot on the tablecloth to write what they were thankful for that year, sign, and date it. We traced handprints for the tiny ones with their name and age.

Today, we have years of thankful messages to read every Thanksgiving and remember the many acts of God’s goodness to us and the people who joined us at the celebration table each year. If we go to someone’s house for Thanksgiving dinner, I ask if I can bring our Thankful Tablecloth and markers.

When I go to be with the Lord, I pray my family will continue bringing out the Thanksgiving Tablecloth as a reminder through the generations of how good God has been to our family and friends.

If you receive this by email, you can leave a comment here.

PS: My plan right now is to take a sabbatical from my Monday Morning Blogs until the New Year so don’t be alarmed if there’s not a blog in your inbox on Mondays until then. Of course, the Lord could always prompt me to write one and surprise you; but if not, I thank all of you for letting me chat with you on Monday Mornings. Dave and I wish each of you a blessed Christmas celebration of our Lord’s birth and a glorious New Year.

November 21, 2022
Return to top of page

Woke is Just a Euphemism for Demonic!

8

First, I want to say that Satan doesn’t want you reading this blog or me writing it. How do I know that? Well, I turned on my computer to warm up while I ate my bowl of oatmeal on a rainy Saturday morning and both screens were black, as in blank. I tried a few things and then called on my computer genius hubby for help and it took almost two hours to bring the screens back to life but there was no logical or technical reason for the blackout. Then when I went to complete the post after church the next day, it took us almost two hours again to get the computer screens aligned and working.

Saturday morning, while Dave was working on it still in his robe and slippers, I couldn’t hold back the tears. I went out on the deck and cried out to God asking Him why writing for Him had to be so hard??!! I even said, “Satan is winning?!” I woke up with ideas about what I wanted to write and then felt defeat overtaking me as my mind emptied of all I planned to share.

But here’s what I do know: I will not be defeated. I might cry and be frustrated, but as long as I have breath and a means to communicate the thoughts the Lord gives me, I will not stop. I claim Psalm 16:8!
I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. Psalm 16:8 NLT

 And a huge praise for my husband’s willingness to persevere until we had some measure of victory.

So that being said, let me get into the meat of what I wanted to talk about this week, and brace yourself, it’s not pleasant but it is urgent.

When “Inclusive” is Abusive It’s Satanic!

If something in our life or culture is not from God, it’s from Satan!

Think about that for a minute. There are only two forces working in our world today, spiritual and satanic. Read the Bible for yourself. There’s either good or evil. Today’s culture and the liberal progressive Democrats have created a social and political agenda that discards and devalues God’s good and invites Satan’s evil to overtake America!

How can this happen in a nation with 210 million Christians? Because the church and many Christians are allowing it! Yes, God is in control, but we are His hands and feet on earth. My ministry is “About His Work!” Where I hope to be until He takes me home. Christians should all be about our Father’s work.

People have been bought, bribed, and paid to undermine our democracy. Whatever they don’t agree with is deemed racism as they denounce America as a failure. But the sole purpose of this fabricated race war and “inclusive” wokeism is to distract from their actual war on God.

Jason Whitlock who hosts “Fearless” spelled it out on Tucker Carlson. I hope you’ll take a moment to listen and think deeply about what he says here. FULL CLIP Tucker Carlson & Jason Whitlock This Is An Attack On God & Democrats Are Baiting Us Into.. – Bing video

A paraphrase of Jason’s comments is that America is the only country founded on biblical principles, almost as God’s experiment, and up until this administration, it’s been a success. But the atheist and people hostile to God want to end this biblical experiment so they’re waging an internal war to tear it down. That’s the real nuclear weapon!

Wokeness is a smokescreen and attack on God and believers regardless of skin color. We need to wake up and watch what they’re doing. They’re attacking God! Whitlock explains, “If you think they’re attacking you, they’re not. They’re attacking God and attacking a country founded on biblical principles! It’s the only biblical experiment that’s ever been tried by a nation and the results are better than any other country.”

“This is satanic what they’re doing!”

Which I’ve been saying almost every week in my blogs! Satan is real and he hates God’s people!

Yet, how many pastors or church leaders do you hear denouncing our country’s quick slide into the gates of hell?

When has your pastor from the pulpit, or you as a Jesus follower, taken action or even mentioned Satan unless talking about the Garden of Eden? I applaud your pastor and you if you’ve done more than just complain about how bad things are or how they’re effecting you personally. But many believers are doing nothing to speak out against the evil or tell their pastor that the congregation needs tools to stop the satanic overtaking of America, our families, our children.

Sadly, NC Pastor John Amanchukwu said about his fellow pastors, “The modern-day pastor today is more like a whimp than like a watchman because they won’t address Critical Race Theory.”

Pastor Mark Burns at a Flashpoint rally in Phoenix reminded us that the government should rest on the shoulders of the people not crush the people. CRT, racism, transgender agenda, and all wokeism is a war against Bible-believing Christians . . . ultimately against God.

Both of those pastors BTW are black!

The church was silent during the 50 years of Roe v Wade and many were silent when it was overturned?! How hard did anyone fight against same sex marriage, taking the Bible and prayers out of schools? Satan has watched our lethargy and apathy and taken advantage to go full speed ahead to attack all Christian values in America.

How many pastors are addressing the following issues destroying our culture, our families, our children?

  •   Desensitizing children with radical sex ed in the classroom—as young as elementary school.
  • Grooming young children to “explore their sexual identity” and “embrace alternative lifestyles” as part of classroom exercises.
  • Forcing affirmation of pronouns that destroy the biblical definition of gender as exclusively male and female.
  • Allowing boys in girls’ bathrooms, and vice versa.
  • Demeaning girls by letting boys who “identify” as transgender take over girls’ sports.
  • Indoctrinating children through teachers describing their own radical sexual identity and lifestyle choices in the classroom.
  • Confusing children by teaching them Critical Race Theory (CRT), woke history (with all kinds of politically correct rewriting), and often blatantly anti-American propaganda.
  • Labeling concerned parents as “domestic terrorists.

Satan is Coming to Your Town

Maybe you’ve watched the disgusting degenerate flaunting of men dressed up as women sexually and explicitly gyrating in front of children as they’ve moved out of the libraries and into restaurants for “Drag brunches,” which are of course on Sunday morning. Playing music during this sex performance that is so sexual, vile, explicit, and pornographic that when clips are shown on TV programs willing to expose this depraved behavior, they can’t even play the background music because it’s so X-rated. Yet little ears and eyes are sitting in these brunches watching and hearing all of this filth. These drag perverts get money thrown at them like strippers and even have websites where you can contribute to their satanic evil. It’s all for money!

Video of all-ages drag show in front of children ignites outrage: ‘This is clear child abuse’ | Fox News

You say to yourself what kind of parents would take their children to something like this and that’s a good question. Parents are threatened with legal action if they don’t let a minor mutilate their body, but there’s no problem with them taking their children to see live porn!

What kind of city or restaurant or local legislators would allow this pornography and child abuse? Your city and my city!!

A restaurant in our town, Asiago’s in downtown Boise is having drag Sunday brunches with children welcome! I’ve called and expressed my disdain and put their phone number on my social media and announced in church that this evil is happening in our Capitol city!

Matt Walsh with the Daily Wire is a brave man exposing the attack on our children. I implore you to watch this video of his podcast. It’s short, just click on it here. A Convicted Pedophile Grooms A 11 Year Old Drag Queen (Video) – Gospel News Network

Walsh also exposed that Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tenn. was promoting and performing sex change mutilation on young children. There was even an admission caught on a “hot mic” that now that revenue has been lost from abortions, performing theses sex change operations on children would be an ongoing source of revenue because these poor children as they grow will need to keep returning for medical or psychological care for the rest of their lives!!!

Vanderbilt even put out a sick commercial telling parents they should “support” their young children’s desire to change their gender. Those in this abhorrent satanic “industry,” consider it a profitable business, just like the murder of innocent babies in abortions.

If your child said at any age that they wanted to fly, would you take them to a rooftop and say go for it? Parents are to be the protectors of their children not supporters of crazy dangerous ideas that are wrong and can cause permanent damage to them for the rest of their lives. Children aren’t allowed to vote, own a gun, drink, even get into an R rated movie without their parents and yet the Biden administration is supporting young children changing their gender preference without even consulting parents!! Or in some states, the children can be removed from parents who don’t go along with this insanity.

So called “gender reassignment” surgery, a synonym for child mutilation and castration, is also occurring for children under eighteen right here in red state Boise, Idaho at St. Luke’s Hospital! Hospital in Boise Offers ‘Gender Reassignment’ Surgery – Idaho Dispatch

Gender reassignment is an evil myth. You may try surgically or hormonally to change who God made you, but the gender you were at birth is the gender you are for life no matter how many attempts to manipulate your body parts that God fearfully and wonderfully gifted to you. It’s a dangerous fad and a result of our sick society that allows these confused children to be damaged for the rest of their life. It should be outlawed, but instead it’s protected and promoted by laws.

We need to teach our children to believe what God says about each one of His creations: I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

You cannot be a Christian and support any of this satanic behavior even if it’s happening in your own family or with people you know. How do I know it’s satanic because it’s nothing God would ever support. He’s not saying, ‘Oh you’re right I really meant to make Johnny a Sally or Sally a Johnny. What was I thinking when I wonderfully created them in their mother’s womb? Ooops let’s change all of that!’ NO!!! He says instead, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.” Jer. 1:5 NLT

God never makes a mistake. Only Satan is the author of confusion, which we’re observing right now and the culture for the most part is going right along with it.

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should or that it’s right.

The premise of BLM and Marxism/Communism is to destroy the church, its values, and the family. We’re watching this happen right before our eyes and too many in the church are afraid to speak the truth. As a consequence, the next generation…our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren…are suffering.

What Can Be Done?

Please don’t just passively read this blog and say to yourself it’s really terrible what’s happening in our society. Take action. Do something about it! We aren’t to be just hearers of the Word but doers. Once you’ve heard the truth, and if you’ve read to this point, you’re now quite aware of Satan’s attack on our society and you can make a choice to do more than simply put a “like” on a social media post or even comment to me, you can make a decision to do something right here, right now!

Pray: First pray asking God what difference can you make wherever He has planted you? Where does He want you to be bold, brave, courageous, and a responsible citizen and Christian? “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Take Action: Whatever you hear the Lord telling you to do, do it. Just do it! Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

Vote: Both parties are surprised how many nonpoliticians who are Conservative Republicans, and many are Christians, have heard the call to run for office. As Jason Whitlock would say, they want to keep our great American biblical experiment succeeding by putting God and His principles back into legislation and ousting out of office the woke, demonic, progressive, devious politicians who want to inclusively destroy America!

It’s disgraceful how many Christians don’t vote; don’t be one of them. God gave us this country and He gave you the freedom to protect it as an American citizen. It’s shameful, lazy, and cowardly not to try and make your voice heard with your vote.

A sweet elderly lady in church who has had a stroke, her husband’s blind and deaf, came up to me last Sunday at church. She said she liked the things I often share in church. Would I please help them research who to vote for as Conservative Republicans. They don’t want mail in, they want to go fill out their ballots in person like they always have.

Don’t let this little lady shame you. Get out and vote like your life, your country, your family, the future of America depended on it, because it does! For those who say you don’t want to get involved in politics, politics will get involved with you!

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Thomas Paine, Dec 23, 1776

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

October 24, 2022
Return to top of page

Balancing Work and Life on Labor Day and Everyday!

0

I’ve always looked at Memorial Day and Labor Day as the bookends of summer. Both are now three-day weekend holidays that also commemorate the end of one school year and the beginning of the next—although today’s schools don’t stick as closely to that schedule anymore.

You probably have memories of Labor Day picnics, family reunions, and barbecues as the official end of summer; but beyond that, few stop to think about why we even have the day off. What is Labor Day anyway?

History of Labor Day

In 1894, Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a federal holiday after a failed attempt to break up a railroad strike. Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers.

Traditionally, all stores closed on Labor Day so workers could celebrate the holiday. Today, most stores are having Labor Day sales and their workforce is hard at work on a day dedicated to resting from work. Many people work on Labor Day without realizing: Hey, I’m a worker that has contributed to my company and I should have a day of rest!

Pray for Those Who Can’t Take the Day Off

Not every worker can take the day off and rest today. Those employed in the service industries often find holidays their busiest time: firemen, first responders, hospital employees, police, restaurant workers, gas stations, and now we can’t seem to go a day without a grocery store open. Seems like we could stock up on Saturday!

My father was a California Highway Patrolman and he took his turn at working every holiday. Labor Day is notoriously a heavy traffic day as travelers return from the three-day weekend and officially the last summer holiday. If you have to be on the road, drive carefully, courteously, and obey the speed limits. 

Pray for every police officer you see. They have a family keeping a plate of ribs or a hamburger warm for the end of their shift.

Work or Rest?

The Crosswalk.com article, Labor Day: Your Need for Both Work and Rest by Nick Batzig, caught my attention. It started out …

“As we come to celebrate another Labor Day, it may be beneficial for us to step back for a moment and consider what Scripture has to say about the rhythm of work and rest—i.e. the cyclical configuration by which all the events of our lives occur.”

The article discussed God’s original plan for work and how that all changed when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and why God wants us to have times of rest and refreshment. Batzig listed several changes over the years that have resulted in work being motivated by prestige, self-esteem, peer pressure, fear, anxiety, and lack of purpose outside of work, rather than simply providing for our family. The following point resonated with what I see happening in families today:

“Whereas traditional societies said that you got your meaning in life through your family, and through basically fulfilling a fairly prescribed social role—either as a mother or father, or a brother or sister, or husband or wife, or a son or a daughter…You just needed to find a way to make a living because family was what everything was about. But we’re the first culture in history that says, ‘You define yourself by defining what you want to be and by attaining it—and then you have significance.’ There’s never been more psychological and social and emotional pressure on work to be either fulfilling or at least lucrative. There’s never been a culture like that.

Learning to Balance Work and Life

Work has taken on such a priority in our culture that businesses are paying female employees to get an abortion or fly to a state that offers abortions rather than giving them time off to have their baby. I’ve heard it said by liberals with twisted values that instead of women taking maternity leave or quitting work to raise their children, abortion is better for the economy. Encouraging women to murder their babies so they won’t miss a day of work. That’s sick!

The companies, politicians, and economists subscribing to keeping women in the workforce rather than letting them experience motherhood, obviously value work over family. But the company isn’t going to be there for her when she ages, quits, is laid off, or becomes ill. The company doesn’t carry on her legacy or DNA. The company doesn’t love her like only a child can.

Family is the future of America. It’s how God designed us to live.

So God created mankind in his own image,  in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Gen 1:27-28

Making work a god that’s worshipped is evil.  “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.” Ex. 20:3-4 NLT

Valuing work more than family is also from the evil one.

I’ll admit that I’m a recovering workaholic. The only way I’m able to balance work and rest is to prioritize the things that are the most important to me—serving God and my family. My ministry is About His Work Ministries, so I’m fortunate to serve God through my work of writing and speaking. I also make sure to schedule times of rest with my hubby, and we often plan those times into speaking event travels and trips to see our grandkids.

We also serve in ministry together as Dave assists me with About His Work Ministries, travels with me when I speak, and we co-lead a couples Bible study. But when I’m spending time with my family—my husband, children, and grandchildren—I set aside “work,” even ministry work, and focus on family.

That doesn’t leave much time in my schedule for “extra” activities, and so I’ve had to learn to say no to some good things. Before I say “yes,” and find myself with no time to rest and refresh, I’m trying to remember to do two things:

1. Pray and ask God if it’s something He wants me to do. Does it have Kingdom value?

2. Assess if I have the time and energy to add this activity to my calendar, and if so, what should it replace?

If I sense God telling me to go for it, I know I must remove something from my calendar, or I’ll become unbalanced trying to get all the work done and rest will suffer. If you want to study more about what the Bible has to say about living a balanced life, you might enjoy my Bible study, Face to Face with Priscilla and Aquila: Balancing Life and Ministry.

What do you do to find times of rest and refreshment in a world that values work over rest and family?

Finding rest on Labor Day
https://womantowomanmentoring.com/publications/bible-studies/#Balance

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

September 4, 2022
Return to top of page

They Called Jesus and His Followers Names Too!

6

In my last two blogs, I’ve talked about the goal of the left, especially the left-leaning media, to create words and redefine others and the latest assault is “Christian Nationalism.” Oh, and they usually put “white” in front of that slur so they can somehow tie it to “white supremacy.” I’ve also mentioned that the goal of Marxism is to destroy the family and the church to ultimately destroy and control the country.

They’re attacking the family through the LGBTQABC and transgender movement invading our schools. The DOJ calls parents domestic terrorists for wanting to stop their children’s indoctrination with racism and sex grooming. The left wants to eliminate parents from knowing what’s happening without their permission in the schools.

The church is also under siege. The left has tried to use the racism card but when that failed, they’ve come up with calling us names like labeling patriotic Christians who love God, family, and country as “Christian Nationalists” and then equating that term with the Taliban! Notice a theme here. You fall into this category by their definition if you maintain that America was founded on Judeo Christian principles and profess there’s nothing in the Constitution or Bill of Rights that says there should be a separation of church and state.

Do you see how they’re also subtly trying to silence teaching American history and sharing the Gospel with these outlandish claims?

Liberals who haven’t accepted that abortion is NOT a right given in the Constitution have now segued to the absurd accusation that the conservative majority in the Supreme Court that led to the overturn of Roe v Wade is a result of the “Christian nationalist movement!”

If you want to know what they mean by “Christian nationalism,” Katherine Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism conveys the following radical propaganda: “The term ‘Christian nationalism’ is not a word game . . . It is descriptive of an ideology as well as a political movement engaged in an organized quest for power.”

Absurd! Deceived! Demonic! Name-calling! Yes, Word Games!

They want to force us to denounce our flag and patriotic views! To be afraid to say what we all know is true that the further our country moves away from God, the closer we get to destruction. To put blinders onto the moral deprivation, lawlessness, and decay of our culture we can all see for ourselves as God was removed from our schools and our government. Silence us from saying our country was founded on Judeo Christian values for fear of being called a “Christian nationalist.”

It won’t work! They can’t intimidate us! We already have the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. We’ll keep singing songs like “Proud to be An American” by Lee Greenwood and “Same Power” by Jeremy Camp. I love both those songs!!

We’ll also sing God Bless America because God cares about our country just like He cared about giving the Israelites the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy 26:15, Moses told the people to pray “Look down from heaven, your holy dwelling place, and bless your people Israel and the land you have given us as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

But Moses also warned them not to forget the Lord’s ways, “Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.” Deut. 8:1

Just like America has forgotten God, the Israelites failed. So, God told them what they needed to do. It’s the same thing our nation needs to do now as I wrote about in Forsaken God? Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chr. 7:14

Calling us Racist Didn’t Work and This Latest Name-Calling Attack Won’t Either.

Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, addressed this issue in a recent sermon where he said he wasn’t a “Christian nationalist, but insisted the United States was founded as a ‘Christian nation’.” He pointed out that a perversion of the Constitution by progressives, atheists, and others has led to the creation of a secular nation now defined by a culture that is both tragic and decadent.

He pointed out that, “Today, over 10 million teenagers in the U.S. drink alcohol regularly; 20 percent engage in binge drinking; 2,800 children die each year as a result of gun violence; another 14,300 are injured. Nearly 1 million babies were murdered in the womb last year, and one in four women in the U.S. will have aborted at least one of their children by age 45. On and on and on it goes. Are these tragedies just a coincidence?” he asked.

“Now, just consider the warning that God gave to His own people Israel. In Hosea 4:6, He said, ‘My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being My priest.’ Listen to this: ‘Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children,‘ Jeffress said.

“He’s given us so much. You can see His hand in the founding of our country. But in the final analysis, God is no respecter of people or nations. Any nation that reverences God will be blessed by God, and any nation, including the United States, that rejects God will be rejected by God,” he rightly emphasized.

“America was founded predominantly … by Christians who wanted to build this Christian nation on the foundation of God’s will,” he said. “And furthermore, these men believed that the future success of our country depended upon our fidelity to the Christian beliefs. And that’s why we can say, though it’s politically incorrect to do so, we say without hesitation or apology that America was founded as a Christian nation, and our future success depends upon our country being faithful to those eternal truths of God’s Word.”
Robert Jeffress rejects ‘Christian nationalist’ label | Church & Ministries News (christianpost.com)

I hope you, like me, agree with Pastor Jeffress and those beliefs alone can now get you labeled as a “Christian Nationalist,” a “threat to democracy.” I’ve been thinking of appropriate responses.

1. Like Dr. Jeffress, we reject this label’s definition and evil connotation, but adamantly and vocally stand by our Christian beliefs and patriotism.

2. We remember our first allegiance is to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, not a government, an official, a president, or people calling us names!

3. We ignore the slanderers and continue living our lives as honorable Bible-believing, born-again Christian American citizens.

15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT

Their Goal is to Divide and Weaken the Church

And it’s working. There’s even a group called Christians Against Christian Nationalism that completely distorts and insinuates being a Christian who loves Jesus, the Bible, and country is somehow a power grab and evil?!

I see confusion and misunderstanding all over social media. It broke my heart to read a comment on Facebook that the writer who had been a Christian for many years was now afraid to refer to herself as a Christian because “Christians are giving Christianity a bad reputation.” This is exactly what the devil and the Marxists hope will happen. That Christianity will become so distorted and tainted that the core TRUTH of the Gospel and the Cross will fall under the weight of slander and misrepresentation . . . eventually silenced.

Here’s just one example of how this confusion is generated in the public arena.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who calls himself a Christian, accused his Republican colleague and sister in the faith Rep. Lauren Boebert of advocating for “the Christian Taliban, after she spoke in a church and said she is “tired of this separation of Church and state junk.”

Boebert, a born-again Christian, argued that the principle of separation of Church and state is not in the Constitution and was only in a letter that “means nothing like they say it does.” Boebert was likely referencing an 1802 letter from President Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Church Association in Connecticut stating that the First Amendment has “a wall of separation between Church and State.”

In context, Jefferson was referring to the fact that the government can’t establish a universal religion or interfere in the church. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “prohibits the government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion” and “government actions that unduly favor one religion over another.” It also prohibits the government from “unduly preferring religion over non-religion, or non-religion over religion.”

The purpose was always to keep the government out of the church, like they unconstitutionally did in forcing churches to close during the pandemic, not to keep the church out of government. Say that truth today and you’re labeled Christian Taliban.

As opponents often use the term “Christian Taliban” or even “Christo Fascists” to demean conservative Christian policy stances, conservative radio host Larry O’Connor reminded Kinzinger that he, too, was once branded as “Christian Taliban” before he was elected to Congress in 2010.

“All of us at Breitbart helped you win in 2010 when the protesters in the streets were calling YOU Christian Taliban and Nazi. Remember all the posters of you and Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin with swastikas?” O’Connor noted. “You’ve become the very people we fought against to help you get elected.” Adam Kinzinger slams Boebert’s call for Church to direct gov’t | Politics News (christianpost.com)

Names the Government and Religious Leaders Called Jesus

The Pharisees were the religious government of the day and they even accused Jesus of doing miracles in the name of Satan. They labeled Him a blasphemer and demonic.

Jesus climbed into a boat and went back across the lake to his own town. 2 Some people brought to him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven.” 3But some of the teachers of religious law said to themselves, “That’s blasphemy! Does he think he’s God?”

32 When they left, a demon-possessed man who couldn’t speak was brought to Jesus. 33 So Jesus cast out the demon, and then the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed. “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!” they exclaimed. 34 But the Pharisees said, “He can cast out demons because he is empowered by the prince of demons.” Matt. 9 1-3; 32-34

When He called them out for their hypocrisy, they tried to trap Him.

But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But give what is inside the dish to the poor, and everything will be clean for you’….

One of the experts of the law (Scribes who were mostly Pharisees) answered him, ‘Teacher, when you say these things you insult us also.’ Jesus replied, ‘And you experts of the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them’….When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, waiting to catch him in something he might say.” Luke 11:37-41, 45-46, 54

As followers of Christ, none of the attacks on Christianity should come as a surprise or discourage us. They only come after us because we represent a formidable and effective threat to tyrannical control of our country and attempts to destroy our culture. I heard a pastor (who BTW is black) say, and I agree, that his biggest sorrow is that his children and grandchildren are not enjoying the America he knew growing up. One that never would’ve allowed the degradation of morals and cultural demise we’re watching today, much of what I’ve written about in previous blogs.

Who could’ve imagined men would be allowed to participate in women’s sports, locker rooms, showers, and bathrooms; pronouns we learned in English now discarded with new ones made up every day; children encouraged to change to 101 different genders; the definition of marriage between a man and a woman discarded, and on and on.

We must not adapt to this immoral society. As Bible-believing Christians, we live unequivocally by God’s Word and set examples for the next generation to follow. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. 1 Cor. 11:1

The world didn’t accept Jesus and His followers either, so let’s not be naïve and think everyone is going to accept Christ-followers. But the only acceptance we seek is that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We remember that this world is not our permanent home; we’re just passing through. But while we’re here, we seek to fulfill the purpose God has for each of us to be About His Work! We occupy and stay engaged until Christ returns for us.

“Grace lets us live as godly, loving Christians, even when politics fails!” Pastor Brian Smith

18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:18-19

14 For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven. 15 With Jesus’ help we will continually offer our sacrifice of praise to God by telling others of the glory of his name. 16 Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have with those in need, for such sacrifices are very pleasing to him. Heb. 13:14-16 Living Bible

The very essence of your words is truth; all your just regulations will stand forever. Ps. 119:160 NLT

The last two blogs I referenced in the opening paragraph are:

We’re in a War of Words with the Devil

It’s Not Easy Being Me, But I’m So Glad God Chose Me to Be About His Work!

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here.

August 8, 2022
Return to top of page

What If Abortion Had Been a “Legal” Option for Mary?

2

Abortion has been in the news recently in a way that gives us hope that Roe v Wade could be overturned and precious innocent lives saved. Three months ago, a six-week abortion ban became law in Texas and the Supreme Court is currently considering a case regarding Mississippi’s law preventing abortion after fifteen weeks, Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization. For me, six and fifteen weeks are still too late to snuff out life, but it’s a start. Progress in the fight for life.

The arguments for Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization rest heavily upon their claim that abortion is a question of right, liberty, and autonomy, and for those reasons, they maintain it must be upheld.

How did we ever get to the place where there are court battles over whether a mother should be allowed to kill her baby in womb at any time on the basis of “liberty” and “personal autonomy”? Liberty and bodily autonomy occur when you decide to have unprotected sex. Yes, you have the liberty to make that choice with your personal autonomous body, but once that choice is made, as with any other choice in life, you are personally responsible for the consequences.

Even before the choice to have sex, the autonomous consideration should be: “Am I ready to have a baby if I get pregnant?” If the answer is no, then NO should be the answer to having sex.

Today, women aren’t required to make that sensible responsible decision. They can take a pill or go to Planned Parenthood and have their baby destroyed. Then continue on with their life . . . or so they think.

My friend Patti Smith wrote a blog about the devastation of her own abortions: Nobody Told Me the Truth. Maybe that’s you and you were misled or misinformed. Patti learned that God is the God of forgiveness as she learned the truth about the life she was carrying and subsequently aborted. I’ve also heard good things about Project Rachel: Hope After Abortion. 

After your own healing, like Patti, God may use your past to help another woman not let abortion become her future.

Misguided Justifications Women and Lawyers Give for Abortion

Misconception: Abortion is a “right.”

Last week, Supreme Court Justice Thomas poignantly asked where in the constitution is abortion a right. “I understand we’re talking about abortion here, but what is confusing is that we — if we were talking about the Second Amendment, I know exactly what we’re talking about. If we’re talking about the Fourth Amendment, I know what we’re talking about because it’s written. It’s there. What specifically is the right here that we’re talking about?” Thomas said.

Thomas was pointing out that abortion is not a written constitutional right. The Constitution does say everyone has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and that includes a baby in the womb.

Here are more “my right” misconceptions and misuses of terminology.

  1. “It’s my body.” It’s not her own body. She didn’t create herself. God did by her parents having sex to create her. Then she used her body to have sex and create a body separate from hers with its own heartbeat, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, brain, organs, skin, arms, legs, sensitivity to pain, and cry.
  2. “Bodily autonomy is a human right.” Autonomy does allow a woman to choose to have sex with her body, but when she creates another body, that little body has autonomy and a human right also.
  3. “Abortion is morally good.” When murder becomes morally good and justified, we’ve definitely regressed to barbarism and savagery. Promiscuous sex is morally wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right
  4. “A woman’s right to choose.” In 99.9% of situations, a woman does have a right to choose . . . if she’s going to have sex or not. That’s her choice.
  5. “Reproductive rights” starts with the right to say yes or no to sex. Sex leads to reproduction. A scientific and biological fact and a right God gave to every man and woman who chooses to have sex.
  6. “Healthcare.” There’s nothing healthy for a woman to have a baby poisoned, burned, dismembered, or sucked out of her womb.
  7. “It’s a decision between a woman and her doctor.” When a girl or woman goes into Planned Parenthood, they don’t see the doctor until they’re in stirrups and he’s killing her baby. Doctors take an oath to save life, not take it. Often it’s not even a doctor performing the abortion.
  8. “Prochoice.” The argument is between prolife and prodeath advocates! That’s something no one wants to say.
  9. “A war on women.” Hmm. How about we stop the war on babies, both male and female.

Other reasons given to justify abortion might be too young, inconvenient, embarrassing, being a mother wouldn’t fit in with life plans. Motivations are often selfish and self-centered not even considering they are carrying God’s creation. A person!

Let’s Look at Mary the Mother of Our Lord and Savior.

When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, he told her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1: 35 NLT) Mary was going to become pregnant with the Savior of the world as a young teenager and a virgin betrothed to marry Joseph. Talk about bad timing! Inconvenient! Embarrassing! Disrupting her marriage plans.

Today’s pro-choice advocates would argue that Mary had every justification for either saying no I won’t do this for you Lord, or if she conceived anyway, call the local abortionist and murder God’s Son, the future Savior of the world.

There would be no Christmas. No fulfillment of prophecy. No chance for repentance and forgiveness of our sins. No eternal life! God’s plans for future generations thwarted!

Praise God, instead, “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1:38 NLT)

How many of God’s children who He knit together in their mother’s womb and had great plans for them to rescue our world in the areas of medicine, health, science, teachers, leaders, preachers, fathers and mothers of future generations have been slaughtered before they could take their first breath or horrifically some even murdered after birth? How many? An estimated 62,502,904 since Roe v Wade legalized unlimited abortions in 1973!

God creates and has a plan for every child conceived. That’s not just a “religious belief” as one pro-abortion SCOTUS said, but a reality, and He had a plan for her too!

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jer. 29:11 NLT

The pro-abortion attorney in the Dobbs case also tried to argue that “the burden of parenthood is an obstacle to women’s success” even as she addressed this absurd argument to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett a mother of seven, including two adopted children.

A man and a woman should carefully consider parenthood BEFORE having sex, not after a child is conceived. Only secular cultural worldly thinking considers success outside the home more valuable than success in the home as a parent.

Mary’s choice to continue with the pregnancy wasn’t easy, but by all standards was one of the most successful and fulfilling choices a mother could ever make!

God Creates Each of Us At Conception


You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. Ps. 139:13-14 NLT

When liberal SCOTUS Sotomayor compared a baby in the womb to a brain-dead person, she actually admitted that a pre-born baby is a person! Satan tries to seduce with deception by calling the baby a “fetus,” which sounds clinical and not like a human being. But I’ve never heard a woman say she’s pregnant with a fetus, a brain-dead person, or a blob of cells. An expectant mother says she’s going to have a baby: a precious, fragile, defenseless human being that according to our current laws she can “choose” to murder or let live.

A scientific discovery is now confirming what Christians have always known that life begins at conception when sperm fertilizes an egg. A video reveals what appears to be a fluorescent display of fireworks taking place at the moment of conception. The ‘flash of light’ is created when zinc is released and binds to tiny molecules that “emit a fluorescence,” only viewable by microscopes. This discovery is nothing short of a breathtaking display of our Creator’s hand at work in creating each of us.

Science and technology now confirm that by six weeks, a child has a beating heart, a developing brain and spinal cord. At ten weeks, the child has arms, legs, fingers, toes and can kick. By fifteen weeks, the baby has a nose, lips, eyebrows, eyelids and can feel pain, yawn, and suck a thumb. If you’ve watched the movie Unplanned, you know the baby feels pain in an abortion and struggles to get away from the suction tube. It’s heartbreaking.

Before ultrasounds and heartbeat monitoring, women bought into the lie they were told that it’s just a blob of cells that can’t feel pain. But now, we know none of that is true. We can see the baby developing and hear the heartbeat at six weeks. We know, without a doubt, that life begins at conception. Yet many still want the “right” to kill that human being, even after the baby takes its first breath! Inhuman barbaric depravity is actually celebrated in Congress, Hollywood, the media, Big Tech, and some state governments.

Abortion has become the accepted crime of unbridled passion and lust.

There’s no right way to do the wrong thing. There’s no justification for having sex and killing a baby because the sex was convenient, but the baby is inconvenient.

Our culture today is playing God by choosing who can live and who should die. That’s not going to end well. I’m asking you to PRAY for the Supreme Court to uphold the Mississippi law and forever change what Roe v. Wade has done to this nation. Pray for each SCOTUS to have a heart conviction to do the right thing and not let innocent lives become political pawns. Ask your churches to pray as ours did this morning.

Mary celebrated her inconvenient pregnancy with a song because she knew “all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27)

The Magnificat: Mary’s Song of Praise

46 Mary responded,

“Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.
47     How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!
48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl,
    and from now on all generations will call me blessed.
49 For the Mighty One is holy,
    and he has done great things for me.
50 He shows mercy from generation to generation
    to all who fear him.

His mighty arm has done tremendous things!
    He has scattered the proud and haughty ones.
52 He has brought down princes from their thrones
    and exalted the humble.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things
    and sent the rich away with empty hands.
54 He has helped his servant Israel
    and remembered to be merciful.
55 For he made this promise to our ancestors,
    to Abraham and his children forever. Luke 1:46-55 NLT

You might also enjoy my Bible study Face-to-Face with Elizabeth and Mary: Generation to Generation, which studies the mentoring relationship between Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist and Mary the mother of Jesus.

If you received this blog by email, please leave a comment here and I will respond.

December 6, 2021
Return to top of page
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Return to top of page · Copyright © 2025 Crown Laid Down Designs All Rights Reserved · Our Privacy Policy