With Bruce Jenner, Sexual Atheism 4.0 Has Launched

Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees–especially when the trees are moral.

Moral issues, like evergreens, often take a lifetime to develop. Because of their slow growth, we might not recognize what’s happening around us until we rise to 35,000 feet in an airplane and look down and exclaim:

“Wow, that’s a big forest!”

To use another metaphor, following Bruce Jenner’s recent interview with Diane Sawyer announcing his gender change from man to woman, Sexual Atheism 4.0 has launched. It’s been for a long time coming, but now the forest is fully formed.

Here’s what’s happened to sexual morality during the past sixty years.

Many of you know that I deal with politics and moral issues on a regular basis. Most stories and interviews that you see in the media do the same, but rarely do they either “look behind the scenes” as to why a moral change is happening or put you in a philosophical airplane to give you the big picture.

I want to do both today. I want you to understand what’s happening on the sociological level of human sexuality in the Western world. More importantly, I want you to understand why.

After that, we’ll deal with Bruce Jenner’s trans gender coming out party.

The Spiritual View

Why do human beings believe certain things about right and wrong and act out what they believe in everyday life?

Because God exists–and  from his nature come all concepts of righteousness. God revealed his moral standards to the world via human conscience, the Ten Commandments, the coming of Jesus Christ,  and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the world.

Morals exist because moral beings have free wills. To do right we must give God his rightful place in our lives and treat other humans with equal respect. This means not murdering, stealing, lying, coveting etc.

Right morals produce freedom and blessing. God wants people to be happy and fruitful.

But as most news shows don’t reference God and his laws for living, they also don’t mention the satanic underworld also influencing human behavior. The Bible is quite clear on the subject:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).

Remember that when you see riots on television, or hear about governmental corruption, or dead babies killed in the womb, or any other form of bad or evil behavior.

There is a devil and demons in this world trying to influence people to do wrong. Call it a devil-inspired mindset that is meant to produce bondage and suffering.

So on the one hand, God loves people and wants them to be blessed. On the other, Satan hates people and wants them to be destroyed.

That’s the real why behind the good and bad in our world.

The World View 

Secondly, in human societies, both God-thoughts and satanic thoughts become codified into a perspective on life we call a world view. World views don’t come out of thin air–they are the taking of either godly or satanic ideas and forming a mental grid with them through which we make our moral choices.

For most of America’s history, the reality of God and a biblical world view formed the backdrop of social behavior. In all the early documents of American history and even inscribed on the monuments today, you see references to God and his ways for living. In fact, during the original U.S. Constitutional Convention, the single most quoted source for framing the laws of America was the book of Deuteronomy.

Early Americans believed in God, the Bible, and his prescriptions for living.

Sure, there were times of moral decline in American society such as the early 1800s which led to the second spiritual awakening, and also the Roaring Twenties of the past century which preceded WWII. But it would not be incorrect to generalize that from 1776 to 1945 “God’s ideas” and moral standards prevailed in the United States as the dominant worldview.

What did this mean for American ideas about sex?

The Bible (and actually most religions and human history) teaches that sex is reserved for a man and woman in covenant marriage to God and each other. This perspective was revealed at the beginning of creation (Genesis 2) and confirmed in the New Testament. It became the normal practice of Christian Europe, the United States of America, and the vast majority of the civilized world.

In the biblical worldview, there are at least six perversions of God-ordained sex: 1) Adultery (sex with someone not your spouse), 2) Fornication (sex before marriage),  3) Incest (sex with a close relative), 4) Homosexuality (sex between members of the same gender), 5) Pedophilia (sex with children), and 6) Bestiality (sex with an animal).

All are condemned as abnormal and unhealthy–even evil–in the Old Testament and three are mentioned in the New Testament (while assuming the rest).

Sexual Atheism

This term is helpful because it describes how we can remove God from our understanding of sex.

Beginning in the 1950s, the USA began to drift away from its faith-based origins, including our socially-accepted understanding of sex. Satan’s ideas began to replace God’s maxims of human love and sexual relations. A worldview called secularism (humanism or atheism), began to grow a forest of trees in the American landscape. It was slow, deliberate, and satanically-inspired.

And it was progressive–just like the upgrades of computer software.

Here are the first three versions:

Sexual Atheism 1.0 – The first domino to fall in corrupting God’s view of sex was toleration for adultery including easy divorce and re-marriage. This was initially popularized by movie stars who slept around with their married co-stars and started an affair/divorce revolving door. Elizabeth Taylor is a prominent example who did it seven times. After a decade or so, the American public began to tolerate both adultery and divorce as never before. Today, adultery is common–and in some ways, expected.

Sexual Atheism 2.0 – In the 1960s, the Baby Boom generation, who’d grown up idolizing the unfaithful movie stars and now rock stars of their generation, made fornication fashionable. In that era it became “okay” to sleep around with anybody of the opposite sex–even if you weren’t married. Venereal diseases increased, babies out of wed-lock sky-rocketed, and over a number of decades, sex before marriage became the new norm for many singles. 

Sexual Atheism 3.0 – The 80’s and 90’s brought the next logical deception in sexual practice–sex between members of the same sex. In some ways this was a reaction to the debasement of marriage, but it still came from the same source–the satanic world. Same sex relationships are not normal–it is abnormal when judged by universal and biblical norms. But in the last twenty years, the American nation has moved so far away from God and his principles that love itself has been re-defined to mean “doing what I want with whomever I want.” 

Which brings us to Bruce Jenner–soon to be called Caitlyn Jenner. He is a tragic figure who was once an Olympic decathlon champion. He was born a man and has fathered children. He is the poster-child of the secular press and academia for:

Secular Atheism 4.0

In his recent interview with Diane Sawyer, which was held with much fanfare as “courageous” and “historic” from the progressive press, Jenner told the world he was born a man but considers himself a woman inside. Just recently he completed the final surgeries necessary for becoming female-ized.

His trans gender transformation will be celebrated in an upcoming article in Vanity Fair. In that piece, Jenner says he “suffered a panic attack the day after undergoing 10-hour facial-feminization surgery on March 15″—a procedure he believed would take 5 hours. Jenner thought to himself, “What did I just do? What did I just do to myself?” 

A counselor then assured him that all was well. Two months later, he is a “she” who goes by the name Caitlyn, wants to marry another woman, and is also hosting “girl’s nights” with wine and cheese to show off his/her new identity. Jenner’s children are putting a positive spin on their father’s coming out, but have refused to participate in Caitlyn’s docu-series for the E! network, set to begin this summer.

Now you know why the trans gender movement (e.g. common bathrooms) is starting to take off in the public schools. We’e been secularized by the satanic mindset. Who knows what the next versions of sexual atheism will include. Multiple people marrying?  Sex with kids if it’s consensual? Sex with pets if its consensual? How about bigamy and polygamy?

A forest of immorality has been growing in this nation for six decades. I hope you see what’s happening from the higher elevation of Scripture.

Sexual sanity and purity has been replaced bit by bit with adultery, fornication, homosexuality and now transgenderism. They are “normal.” They were once abnormal–and even unthinakable. Biblical sexuality is now being ridiculed–all in the name of love and self-expression.

But here is what’s really going on: A satanic mindset is trying to destroy the image of God in human beings. It will cripple many lives and could even take down a great nation. Of course, that is the strategy of the immoral attack.

All the dominoes of sexual immorality have one thing in common: The exaltation of SELF. I will sleep with another man’s wife if I desire. I will have sex before marriage if I want. I will have sex with whatever person I choose. And I will change my gender if I feel inclined.

The key word in that sentence is I. To sin is to do your own thing.

To live a godly and moral life is to trust your Creator with your  make-up, temptations, insecurities and questions and follow his wise ways for living and salvation–to make Him Lord of your life.

Not I, but Christ.

Weep over and pray for Bruce Jenner and those who will follow him off the cliff of self-realization. Only one self-discovery is paramount: “I am a sinner, and I need a Savior who can forgive and transform me.”

His name is Jesus.

We desperately need Him to bring us Revival 4.0.

 

 

Rotten Core, Baltimore, Who’s Your Friend?

This past week saw the ISIS Islamo-Nazis take major cities in Syria (Palmyra) and Iraq (Ramadi).

In Texas, record rains have broken a ten-year drought, but now flooding rivers have left parts of Austin and Houston underwater with at least eight people dead and sixteen missing.

On the Memorial Day weekend, following a month of turmoil, a record number of people were shot and killed in Baltimore, America’s 26th largest city.

Let’s pray for the situations in the Middle East and Texas. But today, let’s focus on what is absolutely destroying Maryland’s biggest city (along with Detroit, Chicago, and many others).

Rotten core, Baltimore, who’s your friend?

As you know, Baltimore has been in the news for six weeks after African American Freddie Gray was arrested on April 12, 2015 and died six days later–apparently of injuries suffered either during or after his arrest.

Gray’s death led to rioting in the streets of Baltimore, a stand down order of the police force for a period of time, and millions of dollars in property damage as angry mobs looted and destroyed local businesses.

On May 1, six Baltimore police officers, (three black and three white) were charged in Freddie Gray’s death.

The Baltimore riots were the latest in a string of police-citizen confrontations that some have used to stoke racial fires all across America. There are many more than these, but three brought national attention:

In August, 2014, Michael Brown robbed a convenience store in Furgason, Missouri, resisted arrest and charged Policeman Darren Wilson who was trying to apprehend him. In this initial race-war escalation incident, people shouted false slogans about Brown’s innocence (“Hand Up, Don’t Shoot!) which were later de-bunked. Wilson was cleared of all charges. 

The Furgason furor was bogus from the beginning–an excuse for anarchy and race-hustling.

Then, in December 2014 a New York Grand Jury failed indict officers in the chokehold death of Eric Garner who resisted arrest for illegally selling cigarettes. This incident was tragic yet accidental. Riots ensued.

Finally, Freddie Gray died on April 18 after being arrested by police for illegal possession of a knife (he had a long rap sheet). The verdict is still out of this one, but many believe that District Attorney Marilyn Mosby over-charged six officers in Gray’s death and fanned the fires of hatred via her words (“This is our moment!”).

Baltimore’s mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, also failed to protect the citizens of the “Star Spangled Banner” city by holding back police during early encounters with protesters. Her now infamous line: “We also gave those who wished to destroy space to do that.”

Baltimore was looted and burned–and it has only gotten worse. 

This past month was the deadliest that Baltimore has seen in more than 15 years. More than two dozen shootings over the Memorial Day holiday weekend alone had city police working around the clock. From West Baltimore to the East Side, a spike in weekend violence took place all over the city. Over the Memorial Day Weekend, city police report 28 shootings and 9 homicides. 

Baltimore Police say they responded to six shootings on Friday night, seven on Saturday, five on Sunday and eleven by night fall on Monday. One of those included a double shooting in which a 9-year-old boy was found shot in the leg and a man who suffered a grazed wound to his head. 

I like Baltimore. I’ve been there a number of times. It has many great attractions as a city and a lot of good people. But two social elements have been extremely hurtful to the lives and future of Baltimore. There is also one friend who needs to help heal the carnage and point the way to hope. 

What are the negative factors that have created a rottenness in Baltimore’s urban core?

Negative Factor One – Bad Leadership 

Former Speaker of the House and presidential candidate, Newt Gingrich, penned an astute assessment of what is rotten in Baltimore from a leadership standpoint. Entitled “The Collapse of Baltimore City,” he points out that Baltimore’s problem has been one-party dominance by Democrats for decades. The Democratic Party and its ideology have destroyed the once great city of Baltimore. 

I don’t particularly like party labels because I know good people in both political parties. But it’s also true the today’s Democratic Party is not the party of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, or even Franklin Roosevelt. It is generally far-left liberal, secular-based, socialism leaning, and produces many victims and government dependents. 

Let’s use the modern term “progressive.” Progressive politics are regressive to people, cities and nations.

Here is Newt Gingrich’s fact-based proof that progressive leaders and policies play a major role in Baltimore’s rotten environment:

  • Fact: the last Republican city council member in Baltimore City left office in 1942. That is 73 years of solid Democrat city councils.
  • Fact: the last Republican mayor of Baltimore City left office in 1967. That is 48 years of unbroken control of the mayor’s office.
  • Fact: the Maryland Senate is currently 33 Democrats to 14 Republicans.
  • Fact: the Maryland House is currently 90 Democrats to 50 Republicans.
  • Fact: the last time Republicans held both the Maryland Senate and the Maryland House of Delegates was 1897.
  • Fact: the last time Republicans held even one chamber of the Maryland General Assembly–the House–was 1917. That is unbroken Democrat control of the Maryland legislature since 1918–or nearly a century of Democrat control.
  • Fact: 7 out of 8 members of the Maryland delegation in the U.S. House are Democrats.
  • Fact: Last Republican U.S. Senator from Maryland was elected in 1980.

I think you get the point. Progressive “leadership” (Democrats) has made Baltimore what it is today. 

Gingrich points out:

“The collapse of order has a continuing effect. There has been a drastic increase in shootings and homicides in Baltimore since April 27. More than 50 people have been shot. At least 10 have been shot and four killed since Saturday May 9. Nonfatal shootings are up nearly 50 percent. All of this happened under the leadership of a Democrat mayor who was worried more about the rioters’ free speech than about the safety, protection, and livelihoods of innocent Baltimoreans.”

He concludes his argument by reminding us that the first duty of government is to protect the innocent and the weak from predators and violence. But progressives “favored the violent over the victims.”

Newt also destroys the false  charge that the police are racist. Here is his second “fact check” list:

  • Fact: More than half of the Baltimore City police force is minority.
  • Fact: Four of the six top commanders are African American or Hispanic.
  • Fact: Half of the police officers being prosecuted are African American.
  • Fact: The problem is not lack of money. Baltimore spends $17,329 per student, and its unionized, bureaucratic schools fail. (Amazingly, as Archbishop of Baltimore William Lori points out, the Catholic schools cost $6,000 a year and have a 99 percent graduation rate. Yet the Democrats are committed to locking poor children out of those schools if it takes a dime away from funds for failing, unionized public schools.)

Gingrich summarizes that in Baltimore, and many other progressive-led cities such as Detroit, Chicago, and New York, bad leadership policies have “trapped people in dependency, killed small businesses in favor of bureaucracy, and favored unionized workers over children. The result has been a 50-year disaster which no liberal Democrat is prepared to analyze honestly.” 

Problem one in Baltimore is the rotten core of progressive leadership (or lack of it).

Negative Factor Two – Family Breakdown

The other major factor in the chaos, crime, and rottenness of progressively-led cities in America is the tragic breakdown of the African-American family. Whereas relatively intact black families were the norm in this nation all the way up to the 1960s, that is no longer the case.

Seventy percent of black children are born out of wedlock. Seven out of ten black teenage girls get pregnant and don’t graduate from high school. The “fathers” don’t take responsibility and split the scene. The single parent homes go on welfare. Crime increases in the neighborhood as fatherless children join the gangs to find “family” and peddle drugs to survive.

No one in America has been a clearer voice on the tragic breakdown of the black family that Fox’s Bill O’Reilly, anchor of the number one cable news show in America, “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Please take time to watch this short video. No one says it plainer than Bill.

The stunning collapse of the African-American family has produced poverty, bad neighborhoods, and rotten cities where it’s easy to light a match of racism or any other grievance and watch the culture go up in smoke.

Two human resources are rotting Baltimore’s core: Broken families and bad leadership.

So who is your friend?

The person who is the answer to all human needs is Jesus Christ, the God-man, who not only died for our sins but sends his Holy Spirit to live inside of those who turn and become reconciled to God.

God in us provides the will to reject violence and hatred; Christ in our hearts gives us the power to create strong and healthy families; God’s grace in our lives lifts us out of despair and poverty; Christ-centered leaders enact and enforce good laws that create security for people, good schools for children, jobs for the industrious and deterrents for criminals.

How does Jesus accomplish this?  Through his people–the Church–who rise up like the morning sun to bless the city through their prayers, evangelism, charity, acts of service, and leadership

Followers of Jesus in Baltimore–this is your kairos moment. Flood the streets with God’s grace, justice and goodness and pray that the Lord of the harvest will make Baltimore a “city on a shining hill.”

[An encouragement from Steve Hall, Northwest Prayer Leader:

“Church of America, we must unite now (as never before) in unceasing prayer, that Jesus, the Lord the whole universe, will rule over Baltimore and over every person, city and circumstance across America.”]
 

 

 

 

 

The Ten Biggest Lies Propagated by our Government

I’m in Washington. D.C. this week for the National Day of Prayer and other meetings. My accommodations are directly across the street from the Supreme Court where arguments were made last week regarding the marriage debate that could have monumental ramifications in the future. 

When I walk by the offices of the justices this week, and also the Capitol Building (now shrouded in scaffolding for repairs), I will pray for our leaders that “God’s truth is marching on” in this crucial American city.

Because the opposite is also a reality: We live in a time period of the proliferation of lies–major and open deception–that is affecting the lives of not only 320 million US citizens, but also billions of people around the world.

In this article I’d like to explore the ten biggest lies being propagated by our government.

It is convenient in our modern, increasingly secular world to say that all people lie. You and I lie, all politicians lie, so why should we even talk about the subject? This type of moral equivalence not only stops the conversation about lying, but it also gives the false impression that all people lie equally and that every lie is the same.

That is not true.

It’s a lie.

First, it should be mentioned that of the three worldviews now competing for supremacy around the globe–biblical faith, secularism, and Islam–only one is committed to factual integrity at all times: biblical faith. The other two brazenly believe that the end justifies the means and that lying is okay as long as the cause advances.

Thus we have Hitler, Stalin, Mao etc. as the most well-known secular political liars of the past century, and a whole rash of ayatollahs, including the current Supreme Leader of Iran, who rarely speak the truth.  They believe in power–and anything that gets them there including telling falsehoods.

The biblical worldview is different. Lying makes the list of basic sins in the Ten Commandments (Commandment Nine), and is mentioned twice in the list of six things that God hates (Proverbs 6:16-19). The New Testament is replete with references of the need to speak the truth, walk in the light, and live with integrity.

Jesus himself said that he was the “truth” (John 14:6). He expects his followers to follow his example.This means that, in general, followers are Jesus are more honest than secularists and Muslims. Why? Their faith is the only one that calls them to tell the truth in all circumstances.

It’s also true that professing Christians sometimes fail. But when they do, they go against the Scriptures–they are not following their faith. Their failure requires repentance and change.

But when Muslims or progressives tells a lie to advance their cause, it’s in accord with their worldview. Lying is a means to a greater end. They do not need to repent. Their followers don’t care.

This practical qualification about lying–that Muslims and secularists are not bound by their religions as Christians are–should help you understand why some politicians lie more than others.

For example, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are examples:

  • The former Senate Majority leader, joked the other day about lying on the Senate floor about Mitt Romney’s taxes so that he would lose the 2012 election.
  • Ms. Pelosi told us we needed to pass Obamacare to find out what was in it (how’s that for transparency in government?).
  • “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” Need I say more.
  • Hillary Clinton erased 30,000 e-mails. Ditto.

All four of these politicians are committed to secular values. That means playing loose with the truth. If you want to read a good article on the non-moral equivalence of all politicians being liars, try David Limbaugh’s  “All Politicians Don’t Lie Equally and Lying Does Matter.”

It’s important to vote for leaders who practice their faith in God.

Now on to the lies that we currently find in government. I should note that these lies didn’t necessarily originate with politicians, but they came up through our culture and institutions (such as higher education) and are being aided by a complicit (and very anti-faith) mainstream media.

These lies are not in any particular order except for the first two. Lie One has had the most devastating consequences in our nation, and Lie Two could do the same in the next generation

Lie One – Abortion

You will never hear a more stupid or evil statement by a politician than “I am pro-choice.” What choice are they talking about? It’s the choice to murder an innocent unborn baby simply because the mother doesn’t want it. Abortion is built on a hideous self-indulgent lie that has led to the death of over 58 million Americans. This is a genocide, an atrocity, all based on a lie.

Here’s the simple truth: Life begins at conception. Babies are babies–either in or out of the womb.

Lie Two – Same Sex Marriage

This lie could be foisted upon the nation soon by five Supreme Court justices. For five millenia human beings have understood the basic truth of human marriage between a man and a woman. Nothing else is marriage.  Only men and women can “join together.” The plumbing only works that way. Any other arrangement is a colossal lie and unbelievable stupidity.

Here’s the truth of history: Marriage is God-created (Genesis 2:24)–a man and woman joining together for love, procreation and the nurture and care of children. 

Lie Three – Deficit Spending

In the past two generations, the American government and people have spent themselves into a debt hell-hole. Our careless spending has destroyed many families and could soon ruin a once frugal and prudent country. Think about it: 18 trillion dollars in public debt. Ten trillion in private debt. And 128 trillion in unfunded liabilities(Social Security, Medicare and Obamacare).

A day of sober reckoning is coming if wise leaders don’t emerge and we, the people, don’t change our ways.

The plain truth: You can’t spend more than you take in. The borrower becomes the lender’s slave (Proverbs 22:7).

Lie Four – Islamic Jihad

The Islamic faith has always been violent. It grew through the centuries primarily through war and terrorism; Mohammed himself set the standard by killing thousands; The Koran contains over 100 war verses that justify Muslims killing other people simply for their refusal to convert.

We are fighting a global enemy who wants to establish a world-wide caliphate. Not all Muslims are violent, but the teachings of Islam condone terrorism and violence. So millions are–and believe they are right in doing so.

The sobering truth: Islam is a warring religion. We must defeat, not appease, Muslim terrorism.

Lie Five – The Unemployment Rate

Just one generation ago we were honest about unemployment statistics. When people lost a job and wanted to work, they were considered unemployed. But the recent recession was so severe, and the governmental policies to right it so wrong-headed, that our government no longer states the truth about jobs in America. They don’t count those who have given up looking.

Our government tells us this month that the national unemployment rate is 5.5%. That’s mis-leading.

Here’s the truth: The real unemployment rate in the USA is closer to 12%. Free people create jobs, not government spending.

Lie Six – Global Warming

Global warming, or climate change, is really a secular conspiracy to tax the Western world for income re-distribution purposes. power and control. It’s a scientific lie based on faulty temperature models, falsifying of data, and probably a desire to hasten a one world government under the banner of Saving the Planet.

The obvious truth: Temperatures have been steady, even cooling slightly, for seventeen years. There is no evidence that burning fossil fuels is impacting world temp and weather in any way.

Lie Seven – Gun Control

Every year progressives try to pass stringent gun control legislation saying that guns are the reason so many people are killed in our nation. They scream, “Guns are the problem!  We need to make it harder for people to get guns! ” But consider this: the death capital of America right now is Chicago. And Chicago has some of the strongest gun control laws in the nation. So what’s the real agenda behind gun control?

I saw this truth on a bumper sticker thirty years ago in Oklahoma: When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. (Think about that.)

Lie Eight – Racism is Alive

We are constantly told that racism is still rampant in our nation–that race relations are getting worse. Agitators tell us that police officers target young blacks, that riots are taken place because of white suppression, and that no progress has been made in 150 years.

Nonsense. America is a changed nation racially.  We voted twice for an African-American president. I don’t know one racist among my thousands of friends. There has been major transformation of race relations since the Civil War and Civil Rights Act of 1964.

This is the wonderful truth: America is essentially a color-blind nation. All lives matter.”

Lie Nine – The War on Women

Women have more rights, responsibilities, privileges, and access to services today than at any time in history. Period. This is a “Golden Age” of women’s rights in the Western World. Don’t believe the “War on Women” nonsense. Enjoy the blessings of your freedom and dignity.

The truth: The only war on women is in the Middle East and other Muslim countries. Let’s liberate them.

Lie Ten – Taxing the Rich will Elevate the Poor

We are so narcissistic and economically illiterate that we are starting to believe the lies of socialism and communism–that class warfare against the rich is the ticket to abundance. How’d that idea work in the Soviet Union? Cuba? Or North Korea? The 21st century Democratic Party is now a political version of Robin Hood who want take from the rich and give to the poor. There’s only one problem:

The truth is, as Margaret Thatcher once opined, “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” We need liberty, not the tyranny of taxation.

I could have mentioned more, but I hope you get the point.

Seek the truth. Speak the truth. Live the truth.

And hold your government accountable for the lies that hurt us all.