Advent-ure Day 11: Not Fluid

The words of comfort today: there is hope in the Lord.  We see vestiges where the enemy is at work, deceiving and distracting, but we can look to the God of all comfort to accompany us.  2nd
Corinthians chapter 1 says:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

In the presence of the Lord, there is joy.  The Bible in Proverbs 13 says that the way of the transgressor is hard.  The power of sin can be great, but the power of God is greater.  The enemy's lies are seemingly overpowering but Christ says that I have overcome the world.  So, when we need to experience the "comfort and joy" that the old carols speaks of, we can press in to the truth of the Scriptures and rest in the knowledge of God.

+++++

It is Day 11 of our 25-day "Christmas Advent-ure," entitled, Sing Unto the Lord!   In this year's Advent Guide, there is a corresponding Christmas song to each day, with a Scripture verse and lyric.  Today's song is the carol, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, which includes the line, "...To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray."

The song also reminds us of the tidings of "comfort and joy," which are expressions that we can
experience in Christ. Psalm 16 says:
8 I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

And, our theme Scripture verse for today:
11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Like never before, we need to know the path of life, the correct path, the Biblically accurate path, so that we might experience the "fullness" of God's joy.

Walt Heyer writes for The Federalist website:

Six-year-old James is caught in a gender identity nightmare. Under his mom’s care in Dallas, Texas, James obediently lives as a trans girl named “Luna.” But given the choice when he’s with dad, he’s all boy — his sex at birth.

Heyer also writes:

In their divorce proceedings, the mother has charged the father with child abuse for not affirming James as transgender, has sought restraining orders against him, and is seeking to terminate his parental rights. She is also seeking to require him to pay for the child’s visits to a transgender-affirming therapist and transgender medical alterations, which may include hormonal sterilization starting at age eight.

Walt can identify; he had a grandmother who would cross-dress him, and he was sent to a gender therapist, who started him on the road to "transition" into being a different gender.  As an adult, he was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and went through a complete transition, including surgery.  He writes, "I felt that my gender identity and biological sex were at odds, but what the therapist failed to consider were the other factors driving my desire to change gender, which needed to be addressed first."

Poor James is being sent to a gender therapist who seems very quick to diagnose and send a child on a path of gender transition.  About him, Heyer writes:

When his mother, a pediatrician, took James for counseling, she chose a gender transition therapist who diagnosed him with gender dysphoria, a mental conflict between physical sex and perceived gender. James’ precious young life hinges purely on the diagnosis of gender dysphoria by a therapist who wraps herself in rainbow colors, affirms the diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and dismisses evidence to the contrary.

Imagine the pressure this child is under.  The Federalist story continues:

When James is away from his mother, he consistently rejects the idea that he is “Luna girl” or that he wants to be a girl. Because the court prohibits dad from dressing James as a boy or from teaching him that he is a boy by sharing religious or science-based teachings on sexuality, dad presents James with male and female clothing options and James always chooses, even insists on, his boy clothes.

The story quotes Bill Lovell, the senior pastor of Christ Church Carrollton, who wrote: “Based on the three occasions I’ve spent time with him, I’d say he acts and looks unmistakably like a healthy six-year-old boy. … I am praying for James, an average six-year-old boy, a sweet-natured, intelligent, lovable and at this point particularly vulnerable young man, caught up in a titanic clash of worldviews.”

The article also quotes from Michelle Cretella, executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, who "describes the pediatric community’s encouragement of sex change and hormonal treatments for children as 'institutionalized child abuse.'"  The College's own website states:

It is now alleged that discrimination, violence, psychopathology, and suicide are the direct and inevitable consequences of withholding social affirmation and puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones from a gender dysphoric child. Yet, the fact that 80 percent to 95 percent of gender-dysphoric youth emerge physically and psychologically intact after passing through puberty without social affirmation refutes this claim.

And, this is regarding children who actually experience gender dysphoria, which doesn't seem to be the problem with James, who, when with his father, rejects the pressure to conform to the thoughts and behavior of the female his mother insists that he become.  It's a classic and tragic case, in one family, where the errant theory of gender fluidity conflicts with the biological, Biblical teaching of gender being fixed.

We find a culture today that is fighting with all its might against traditional sexual norms.  It is a deception, and even though those who speak up for traditional Biblical teaching on sexuality find themselves ridiculed and labeled as being bigoted and homophobic, we still have the opportunity and even the responsibility to hold fast to God's truth.

The pastor described James as a boy who is "caught up in a titanic clash of worldviews."  And it's really sad that the perpetration of views of modern sexuality have left so much hurt and confusion in their wake.  We are reminded that we should always be compassionate toward those who are experiencing confusion in this area, but the best thing we can do is tell the truth - not to accommodate errant sexual beliefs, but to share the freedom that comes in Christ.  So often, we find people and even churches who are willing to tolerate LGBT beliefs without sharing the really, really good news that people can change.  

And, Christ promises a change from death to life, not a change from life to death that is being forced upon six-year-old James. The contradiction in the LGBT community is that they advocate gender fluidity, but also fixed sexual orientation, determined biologically.  The Bible teaches something different: one gender, created and determined by God; and the ability to overcome all sinful behavior, including the practice of homosexuality.  Christ came to redeem sinners and to give us power to overcome the sinful practices in which we engage.  Comfort and joy come through believing in the One who came to set us free.