We recently heard from a female skeptic who said that no woman could accept the biblical teaching that women had to wear a head covering or a veil that hid their face. She was referring to 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 where Paul writes, “Every woman that prays or prophesies with her head unveiled brings shame on her head, for that is to make herself like one of the shameless women who shave their heads. For if a woman will not veil herself, then she should cut off her hair, but since to cut her hair short, or shave it off, marks her as one of the shameless women let her be covered.”
This is an excellent example of what any reader of ancient documents needs to understand. You must look at who wrote the document, to whom they wrote it, why they wrote it, and how the people to whom it was written would have understood it. For example, the Greek culture of that day demanded that women had to wear a head covering when out of their home. Otherwise, she was advertising that she was a prostitute.
Paul wrote the Corinthian letters to a particular group in a specific culture. Even today, when we visit a culture that attaches a particular understanding to what a person wears, Christians need to be sensitive to what their clothing conveys. In 1 Timothy 2:9, Paul also cautions Christian women to avoid “pearls or costly dresses.” He says he would not eat food that would offend someone if doing so would cause a person to be misled by his example (1 Corinthians 8:8-13).
In those same verses, he points out that Christians have the freedom to eat anything. However, being concerned about how our dress and actions affect others must have a higher priority than expressing our freedom. That is a lesson the American culture needs to learn today.
What response would you make to a 14-year-old girl who has decided she is really a boy and wants doctors to surgically remove her breasts and put her on a puberty blocker and hormone therapy regime? The UCLA School of Law and the American College Health Association tell us that the number of girls seeking treatment to have their sex changed has risen dramatically. In 2008, it was one in 2,000, and in 2020, it was one in 20. There are now over 50 clinics treating gender dysphoria in the United States. There was one in 2007.
Many young people have severe depression issues and are frequently suicidal due to gender dysphoria. Experts debate the cause of this phenomenon while treatments being used are causing more problems. The question is how to go about treating gender dysphoria. Many transgender cases are due to social contagion as friends influence a young person to “come out” as trans. There are online forums of trans teens with large numbers of participants.
An increasing number of transgender persons regret their decision to change their gender. Some have even sued clinics for rushing them into the decision to change without adequate counseling. Many times other mental health issues are involved. Having your testicles or breasts removed is irreversible. Also, the drug treatments are for life and have side effects that may be medically difficult to manage.
The Bible says God created male and female (Genesis 1:27). The original plan works, but surgery, drugs, and a rejection of God’s design have changed that. The tragic result sometimes leaves innocent victims who are negatively affected by what others have done.
The real complication is that treating gender dysphoria has become a political issue. For example, The Week magazine (October 29, 2021, page 11) carried an article about LGBTQ activists committing violence against scientists and doctors who have suggested applying caution regarding medical intervention in trans situations.
Christians must respond to this with love, compassion, and caring. We should do everything we can to help everyone enjoy the blessing of being a confident male or female in an age of confusion and frustration.
Every parent knows that it is tough to release our children into the world, to allow them to do things and make their own decisions. We don’t want them to make bad choices, and we are afraid they will fail or get hurt. Every parent has to realize that there is a point where we have to let go of our children, but we just want them to choose wisely.
If we didn’t love them, it wouldn’t be so hard. But, we know that for our children to be truly human, they have to make choices, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. But, we ache for them when they choose wrongly.
Sometimes we let go too soon and sometimes too late. That’s because we are choosing when to let go, and sometimes our choices are wrong. We can all look at our lives and realize that we are guilty of sometimes making bad choices.
Imagine how God must feel. He created humans and let them go by giving them free will. He knew they would make bad choices, but the alternative would be to make them robots, not humans. Robots can’t love, and since God is love (1 John 4:8), He wants us to love Him.
God had no choice but to allow us to have free will because He created us to be persons who would freely choose to love Him. Therefore, it’s up to us to choose wisely.
Thanksgiving is my favorite national holiday because it’s one time when our nation seems to embrace a uniquely Christian virtue. We aren’t talking about the social grace of saying “thank you,” but what Webster calls “a feeling of thankful appreciation for favors or benefits received without payment or obligation. A warm, appreciative response to kindness.” We call it a Christian attitude of gratitude.
Our society has moved to a “survival of the fittest” mentality. This philosophy says that if I have a blessing, it’s because I am more fit, and I have earned it. If I give a blessing, it is because I expect to get something in return. In contrast to this view, the Bible instructs followers of Jesus to have an attitude of gratitude—to be in constant thanksgiving. (See 2 Corinthians 9:11-12; Ephesians 5:4; Philippians 4:6; Colossians 2:7 and 4:2; 1 Timothy 2:1 and 4:3-4.) You develop and grow in this attitude because being thankful means caring about others more than yourself. The more mature a Christian becomes, the more gratitude they will have.
Most of the ills in society today are because we have turned away from having a Christian attitude of gratitude and have turned to the survival of the fittest mentality. Divorce happens when we don’t look for the good things our mate brings to us. We must be thankful for their strengths instead of dwelling on their weaknesses. Parents can damage children’s self-image by not expressing genuine gratitude for the positive things children bring to their lives. Old age becomes a real challenge when the family focuses on the burdens the senior brings to them instead of the blessings the person has given through the years.
Romans 1 describes the decadent world in which we live. Verses 21 and 22 tell about an ungrateful person: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.”
God does not instruct us to be thankful because He has a huge ego that needs praise. We need to be grateful for every blessing in life because that will shape us into the kind of person we should be. Be thankful to live in America, to have medical solutions for life’s ills, to have enough to eat, a warm home, and loved ones. Whatever blessings you have, don’t take them for granted. Develop a Chrisitan attitude of gratitude and have a thankful Thanksgiving.
The importance of not putting things off gets highlighted when we realize how quickly the past fades into an unconnected reality. How quickly we forget things that we should have done, people we should have visited, and ways we should have responded to the needs of others. The whole concept of “bearing fruit” (John 15:2) is to do as much as possible with the time God gives us. We recently received a list from David Harrington that reminded me how quickly the past fades from our memory. Do you realize:
1) That the Beatles split up 52 years ago? 2) That Elvis has been dead 44 years? (He would be 86 today.) 3) That the movie “Wizard of Oz” is 82 years old? 4) That Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video is 38 years old? 5) That John Lennon has been dead 41 years? 6) That Mickey Mantle retired from baseball 53 years ago? 7) That the Ed Sullivan show ended 49 years ago? 8) That the “Brady Bunch” TV show premiered 52 years ago? 9) That the triplets on the TV Show “My Three Sons” are now 52 years old? 10) That the Corvette turned 68 years old this year?
In Luke 16, we read about the “Rich Man” and “Lazarus.” The rich man wanted to get the message to his brothers that they needed to conform to God’s will. Abraham responded to the rich man that no one can go from the existence of the dead to the living. All the years that the rich man had to meet the needs of Lazarus were forgotten. We should be using our time now for bearing fruit by doing the things Jesus described in Matthew 25:31-40.
One of the facts of life is that eventually, we will all die. Many of us have seen people endure enormous pain over a long period before death finally came. I am thankful that my wife Phyllis and my son Tim did not go through months of intense pain before passing on. Medical science has made great progress in extending life but has not been as effective in relieving pain. That is part of the reason we have seen a movement for legalizing physician-assisted death.
New Jersey passed a “Medical Aid-in-Dying” law two years ago, and last year 33 terminally ill people in the state ended their lives. Since 2016, California has had “The End of Life Option Act.” New York has a “Good Death” Act moving through the legislative process. The movement to legalize physician-assisted death is not confined to America. Holland was perhaps the pioneer of physician-assisted death in Europe. Columbia became the leader in South America back in 1997. The “Colombian Pain Institute” administers euthanasia for “intense physical or mental suffering due to an injury or incurable illness.”
The Week magazine for October 22, 2021 (page 8) carried a report demonstrating the difficulty of legalizing physician-assisted death. In Colombia, a 51-year-old woman named Martha Sepulveda has ALS and was scheduled to be euthanized. She would be the first person in Colombia to receive physician-assisted death without a terminal prognosis. However, the Colombian Pain Institute concluded that “her condition had improved” so she is no longer qualified for the procedure. Now she has a lawyer fighting for her right to die because she “is not willing to continue to live.”
Christians have concerns in this matter. In 1 Corinthians 3:16, we read that our body is “the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in us.” The next verse tells us not to defile the temple. This concept is continued in 1 Corinthians 6:15-20, which teaches why a Christian should not be involved in prostitution. In ancient times, death came more quickly than in today’s world with modern medicines. Therefore, a person near death today deserves special attention and Christian compassion. In Proverbs 31:6-7, we read, “Give strong drink to those who are ready to perish, and wine to those who are of heavy hearts.” When David was near death, he was chilled, and a woman came to warm him not for sexual purposes but to relieve his discomfort. (See 1 Kings 1: 1-4).
The doctors I know are horrified at the prospect of deciding to end someone’s life. It is hard to assess the collateral damage of someone saying, “I choose to die rather than blessing others, especially my family.” In many cases, financial concerns are a significant motivation for ending life, and there are horror stories of involuntary euthanasia in Holland. Christians should lead the charge to develop medical steps to relieve suffering and pain. Financial problems should not be an issue in a wealthy country like the United States.
From an atheist’s viewpoint, death is the end, and physician-assisted death is merely the solution to suffering. However, I continue to be reminded of my son’s last words to me before he died. He said, “Dad, I am going to see Mom, and I will actually be able to see her and be with Jesus.” These words were from a blind, mentally challenged, COVID-ravaged young man who had battled muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, and schizophrenia all of his life. He was ready to move on to something better.
One of the great worldwide problems is the disparity of wealth in the world. The gap between the “haves” and the “have nots” just continues to grow. Those of us who are Christians devote significant amounts of time and money trying to help the “have nots.” The problem is that as the world moves away from Christianity and replaces it with secular humanism and a “survival of the fittest” moral standard, the gap between the wealthy and the poor grows.
Recently there have been some amazing displays of the “haves,” including some with scientific connections. In 2020, a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton sold for 32 million dollars. In October 2021, a triceratops skeleton known as “Big John” sold in Paris for 7.7 million dollars. Private individuals made both of those purchases, meaning that the fossils are not available for scientific research. In some places in the world, luxury living is incredible. For example, in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), an apartment can sell for as much as 180 million dollars. There is a resort called Atlantis, the Palm off the coast of Dubai, where spending $7000 for a meal is not unheard of.
The disparity of wealth in the world means that most of the world’s population is living in poverty with food shortages, poor housing, and a lack of medical, leading to premature death. Even in the United States, where we have things better than in most countries, there is a vast disparity between the rich and the poor. It is essential to point out that religion is sometimes the cause of this disparity. Even those who claim to be Christians can be swept up in what the world offers, and religious leaders have made headlines for living the life of the rich.
Imagine what we could do to alleviate the poverty in the world if every wage earner chose to give a percentage of their income to care for others. Jesus hit at the real problem in His sermon in Matthew 6:19-21. “Stop storing up your riches on the earth where it may be turned to dust by worms and weather and where thieves break through and steal. But keep your treasure in Heaven where there is no moth or rust to consume it. For where your treasure lies, your heart will be there too.”
The disparity of wealth in the world is rooted in attitude, which is strongly affected by what we believe about the value of human life. A strong argument for the existence of God and the validity of the Christian system is how it can change a person’s attitude from getting and hoarding to giving and serving. When people fail to follow the teachings of Jesus (not the practices of organized religion), the experience of war, conflict, pollution, abuse, and division will grow. Jesus is truly the “light of the world” and the only hope for the future.
The first week of November is White Ribbon Against Pornography or WRAP Week. Pornography is a problem faced by all churches as well as by our society in general. Several years ago, we worked with Jimmy Hinton to prepare a video series titled “Spiritual Warfare: Safeguarding Churches From Child Predators.” It has been disappointing that even though we provide the material for free, we have had difficulty getting congregations to use it because they deny that they have a problem.
93% of boys and 63% of girls are exposed to internet porn before age 18. The average age of exposure is 11.
Neurological studies show that pornography has a detrimental impact on the brain.
The probability of divorce doubles for men and women who begin viewing pornography.
50% of Christian men and 20% of Christian women use porn.
Sex trafficking survivors report that they were forced into trafficking by acting in pornographic productions.
The Bible is full of warnings to encourage believers not to get involved in this kind of behavior. Proverbs 23:7 tells us, “As a man thinks, so is he.” In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said, “..whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her in his heart.” Romans 13:14 tells Christians, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its demands.” First Corinthians 10:12 tells us, “..let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”
Hollywood, television productions, and novels rush to promote sexual images because sex sells in America today, thanks to our society’s rejection of God and the Bible. With that in mind, we should not let WRAP Week be the only time we address this problem. Instead, the Church needs to take the lead in teaching about the destructive nature of pornography and the beauty of sex as God intended it to enrich the relationship of men and women in marriage.
Have you ever taken the time to check out the history of Halloween? Halloween is not a satanic holiday, and witches or warlords did not invent it. The actual origins began in the Catholic Church in Ireland and Scotland, and it also has Celtic roots.
The original name was “All Hallows Day.” In Ireland and Scotland, it celebrated the end of harvest and the beginning of winter. The Celtics commemorated the holiday with a feast and with games based on food. In A.D. 606, Pope Boniface made it a celebration of the martyrs, and later, Pope Gregory IV initiated praying for the dead.
Over time, the Catholic Church brought “All Hallows Day” into their doctrine so that in 1200, churches rang bells to get people out of purgatory. In various western countries, people celebrated Halloween in unusual ways. In France. People prayed and left dishes of milk by graves. In Italy, people left a whole meal for the “spirits” of relatives. In Spain, people left pastries for dead relatives. None of these practices are biblical, nor are they connected to any satanic belief system.
By the end of the 19th century, people in Scotland and northern England began “guising” by wearing masks and disguises. For many, this involved wearing a costume to make fun of Satan. In 1911 this caught on in America, and by 1915, there was a combining of “guising” and providing pastries. By 1950, this had evolved into the familiar house-to-house trick-or-treat routine. For 90% of us, trick-or-treating was a fun time, and my children made it part of our family time. For my mentally challenged son, this was one of his favorite times because no one knew of his limitations, and he got the same treats as everyone else.
Satan has used Halloween as a time to bring bad things to people. A teacher friend had a very fair blond-haired daughter that Satanists tried to kidnap, allegedly for human sacrifice. We began to see stories of people putting anything from LSD to razor blades in the treats they gave to kids. The evil in the world has made Halloween suspect for many people. Sorcery and witchcraft are as old as civilizations. In Exodus 7, we see that Egypt had sorcerers and magicians, and Exodus 22:18 mentions witchcraft. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 describes horrible things that were happening in the countries which ancient Israel invaded. In Acts 8:9-10, Simon used sorcery to gain political power.
Christianity opposes evil and the power of Satan. We see that in 1 John 3:8, Colossians 2:15, and James 4:7. The Bible tells us that Satan cannot remove our freedom of choice. Hollywood and Disney World have given us ghost images that may terrify some, but death is a one-way street. No one comes back as a ghost, and we have nothing to fear on Halloween except what evil humans might do to us. However, that danger is always with us 24/7/365 – not just on Halloween.
We often get objections from atheists who say that suffering disproves God. They say that God cannot exist because there is pain and suffering in the world. Actually, the opposite is true. Suffering makes more sense under the Christian concept of reality. Therefore, suffering does not disprove God.
For atheists to make the moral judgment that suffering is bad, they are deciding what is good and bad while at the same time saying that in reality, there is no ultimate good or bad. The atheist is only saying that he does not like things that he has determined are “bad.” Since suffering is bad, suffering disproves God.
People, in general, seem to assume that if there is a God, then His purpose is to make us happy as if God is our servant. On the contrary, Christians believe that the primary purpose of life is not happiness but knowing God. Human suffering may not make us happy, but it may very well give us a deeper knowledge of God and His love.
In times and places where the hardships have been the greatest, faith in God and Christianity have grown the most. Also, we have to realize that humans are in rebellion against God and His purpose. As long as people are in rebellion against God, there will be evil in the world, and we will all suffer as a consequence.
If God is not limited by our time dimension, then His purpose for us will not be limited to this present world and the life we are living. As someone said, we are in the cramped entrance foyer opening into the Great Hall of Eternity. If there is a God, as I believe there is, to know Him is the greatest of all goods. Any suffering in this life cannot compare with the good that God has in store for us.
While the atheist says that suffering disproves God, Christians can face the problems of life and say, “God is good all the time!” Perhaps there is no “earthly” reason for the catastrophes we face. But perhaps there is a “heavenly” reason that we are not yet equipped to see. As John Clayton has often said, “For the atheist, this life is the best he will ever experience. For the Christian, this life is the worst we will ever have to endure.”
