So the grandest of all Christian celebrations is upon us. This year, Friday April 7th is Good Friday. Sunday April 9th is Easter. Or Resurrection Day as some prefer to call it.

The two dates vary from year to year. Why? It’s, well, complicated. Why do these two occasions give us the grandest of our faith celebrations as Christ followers? Because we get to color Easter eggs? Uh…wrong answer.

Let’s try to figure this out. The Bible has a very clear account of what took place on what we call Good Friday. I assume you know the story. Let’s check.

Jesus was crucified in a most cruel fashion on a cross on Good Friday because…

• A. He was a known criminal like the other two who were on crosses.
• B. He refused to heal animals as well as people.
• C. He claimed to be the son of God.

I hope you answered “C.” But the answer is incomplete! This next question clears it up.

Jesus willingly gave up His life to be crucified in order that…

• A. People would be convinced He was a tough guy.
• B. He would prove to His followers that the Romans could not break Him.
• C. An ultimate sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin would be paid once and for all.

Again, “C” should be your right answer.

Yes, BUT…why was the Resurrection so important?

• A. It showed you can’t keep a good man down.
• B.  It revealed Jesus had mastered survival techniques.
• C. It proved that Jesus had authority to conquer even death!

Let’s go with “C.”

How marvelous are these truths? It’s impossible to calculate their worth. God’s love is so rich, so amazing, that the Apostle Paul writes: ”…And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:17-19, ESV)

Here’s a fourth question. If you asked your children why we honor Good Friday and Easter, what answers would they give?

Christmas and Easter events are rightfully the two most significant occasions each year on our calendars. And the two most distorted! Cultural traditions have so thoroughly blurred the distinctiveness of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that the truths of the Gospel story take a back seat to Santa and the Easter Bunny.

As in years past, a number of articles have surfaced about how to deal with this radical shift from truth. One column I noticed this year is titled, “What Do I Tell My Kids About the Easter Bunny?” The writer claims that symbols used to celebrate our Christian holidays “come from pagan roots rather than Christian traditions (and predate Christianity).”

This writer, Michelle S. Lazurek, explains why the date of Easter changes. And then we get an everlasting gobstopper right in our face: “Christian parents who celebrate the Easter Bunny are no different than those who celebrate Christmas by putting up a Christmas tree.” I personally find that easy to dispute.

There certainly are historical references to the use of evergreen boughs in pagan celebrations, But as even the History Channel notes, “Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes.” I don’t recall the Germans welcoming the arrival of the Easter Bunny.

Ms. Kazurek’s solution is as one might commonly hear: “…Christians should always listen to their conscience. If they feel they are dishonoring Christ by celebrating the Easter Bunny or having an Easter basket, they should refrain from doing so.”

Is that the answer? I can’t say definitively. But I’m rather confident that the more Christian parents blur the true meaning of Christmas and RESURRECTION day, the less convincing we are in advocating the truths we treasure most. Or should.

Santa stories may bring hope. But it’s the hope for more stuff for us. The Easter Bunny may bring hope. But it’s the hope of finding the most eggs. Jesus Christ brings authentic life-giving hope. I’m putting all my eggs into His basket.

In Proverbs 8:36, Lady Wisdom declares that “All who hate me love death.” Those who scorn wisdom, who are wise in their own eyes, are not merely prideful, they have a death wish. Wisdom comes to us in many forms — primarily through God’s Word and his Church, but also through the traditions of our family, culture, and nation (Prov. 6:20, 22:28). When a nation rejects these forms of wisdom, it will be a nation soaked with blood.

A recent poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal and NORC (the “Nonpartisan and Objective Research Organization” at the University of Chicago) showed that a mere 38% of Americans surveyed said that patriotism was important to them. This was down from 70% in 1998, when the same poll was last conducted. Now, patriotism is a difficult thing to preserve in an age when abortion is available on demand (or even through the mail) and homosexual “marriage” is the law of the land. But turning against our own nation is also dangerous.

What does this have to do with wisdom? God has appointed nations and cultures as a means of passing down wisdom from generation to generation. A nation that has turned against itself, placing little value on patriotism, is a nation that has shut itself off from a vital God-given source of wisdom. The traditions of a nation and culture, insofar as they are righteous traditions, are the collected wisdom of our fathers and mothers, and to consciously disregard these traditions is to undermine the stability of the social order.

The United States of America has little love for its own traditions, supplanting its once-Christian moral foundations with openly pagan laws and customs. In a word, the United States hates wisdom.

Returning to the point made at the beginning of this article, those who hate wisdom love death. We should not be surprised, then, to see this reflected in the same WSJ-NORC poll that only 23% of adults under age 30 said that having children is very important. A culture that does not value children is a culture that is soon to die off. Failure to marry and procreate is, quite literally, cultural suicide. Already, sociologists and statisticians are warning about the impending crisis that low fertility rates will bring about.

Of course, the same demographic that is eschewing the duty to marry and rear the next generation is still engaging in promiscuous behavior. And so, hundreds of thousands of babies are slaughtered each year. All who hate wisdom love death.

What is the answer to this crisis? Real patriotism. We need a generation of American citizens who love their nation enough to speak against it, condemning the ghoulish practice of abortion and the abomination of homosexual “marriage,” transgender contagion and cross-dressing. We need a generation of American citizens who will commit to abstinence until marriage and then raise children faithfully in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We need a generation of American citizens who love God and the nation He blessed us with enough to preach the Gospel Truth, boldly calling our government and populace to repentance and righteousness.

The work of reformation will be difficult and laborious, and to those on the outside may appear decidedly un-patriotic—the proclamation of the Gospel is a proclamation of grace, but also judgment on sin. But such a message is necessary if we are to tear down our nation’s unfruitful practices while preserving our most valuable traditions.

Read more:

America Pulls Back From Values That Once Defined It (WSJ)

Most Americans don’t believe the US is the greatest country in the world, poll finds (Fox News)

Religion, Patriotism and Having Children Diminish in Importance for Americans (NCR)

Is it possible that our legislators are trying their best to make Illinois the California of the Midwest, without the mountains or beautiful weather? Our Governors, most certainly, are competing. Both have wildly inflated egos, both ignored their own directives during the height of the pandemic, and both have designs on the White House.

We already have many other similarities as well. Our largest cities are infested with crime and plagued with Soros backed prosecutors. English language and math proficiency for all students also is bleak for both states, although Illinois is worse. California is 50% and 34%, while in Illinois it is 29.9% and 25.8% for English and Math. And both states are losing population in record numbers. The 2020 figures show California losing 182,000 of its population of 39.5 million and Illinois has dropped 104,000 of its 12.5 million total population.

Instead of addressing these and other serious issues, our august lawmakers are trying to stay neck and neck with the Golden State on woke bathroom policies. Our General Assembly just passed an amendment (HB 1286) to the “Equitable Restroom Act,” that allows that “[a]ny multiple-occupancy restroom may be converted into an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom.” It goes on to describe a variety of requirements for partitioned stalls and urinals. It was passed by a vote of 60 to 40, all Republicans voting against it.

Why?

California passed a similar bill that was signed into law by Newsom last year. The reasoning for the legislation was thin. One explanation was that parents could take their opposite sex minor child into the restroom with them . . . But, wait. Hasn’t that already been going on everywhere, forever?

Then there was the explanation that it allowed for more equitable gender inclusion. Isn’t that a separate argument? Haven’t we already been fighting that issue as it relates to gender identity, allowing people to use the restroom of the sex they identify with rather than their biological sex? I guess it answers the problem of the non-binary. If you don’t identify with either sex, where do you go? Literally, where do you go? Voila, an all-gender restroom.

Some pundits claim that the sex separated restroom prudery didn’t begin until the Victorian era, although many also mention that Paris began using separate public restrooms in the 1700’s.  What nobody mentioned is that throughout most of the world there were no public facilities other than outhouses, alleys and the great outdoors. Ancient Rome had public toilets, but I could not find any definitive source that could say one way or the other if facilities were separate for men and women. Logic indicates they were, since Roman baths were used by men and women, but there were separate designated times for men and for women to use them. Even in Rome, modesty prevailed.

Harvard Law Professor and columnist for the New Yorker, Jeannie Suk Gersen, has a more practical reason for combined restrooms. Saving time. In an article she wrote in 2016, Gersen recounted the occasion when she took the bar exam at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. She had to go to the restroom, but the ladies room had an “enormous line.” Instead of waiting, she walked into the men’s room, where there was no line, used one of the many empty stalls and expeditiously returned to successfully complete her exam. It wasn’t fair, according to Gerson, that the women had a long line while the men had none. So, she corrected the injustice. Professor Gerson observes:

Today, men and women, not assumed to be only heterosexual, are expected to function at work alongside one another, eat at adjacent seats in restaurants, sit cheek by jowl in buses and airplanes, take classes, study in libraries, and, with some exceptions, even pray together. Why is the multi-stall bathroom the last public vestige of gendered social separation? When men, gay or straight, can stand shoulder to shoulder at urinals without a second thought, is there much to back up the view that men and women must not pee or poop next to one another, especially if closed stalls would shield them from view?

Does modesty have no value, privacy and safety no utility, professor?

Why are our legislators devoting time on such issues as this? Is this really something that a majority of Illinoisans want? An identical bill was passed 63-43 in the Illinois House in 2021, but was not voted on in the Senate. Why bring it up again? Why do people with such strange priorities keep getting elected? And why is this a political issue?

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your local state senator to ask him/her to vote against this legislation when it comes up for a vote on the Senate floor sometime this session. Urge them to reject this foolish woke agenda that fails to recognize biological facts. Ask them to protect the privacy, dignity and safety of all Illinois citizens.

Please, speak out against this destructive bill.

Not too long ago Mr. Potato Head was in trouble. In a day when even a sitting U.S. Supreme Court justice claims not to know how to define a woman, the hubris of calling any toy “Mr.” is just too much for our present culture.

Even Piers Morgan was upset about this tempest-in-a-teapot because the “Mr.” part of Mr. Potato Head was “upsetting a few wokies.”

Giving in to wokeness is one thing. Sensitivity to others is another. LEGO announced some new additions to their lineup of toys. Dailymail.com wrote recently,

“LEGO, which recently unveiled a range of new characters, with a range of skin tones and nationalities, several of whom have disabilities, has revealed…the details of each of these characters. The new generation of Lego friends are a diverse bunch, representing a multitude of backgrounds and lived experiences.”

One can understand being sensitive to others, as in the LEGO example. But often the woke revolution goes too far.

Even children’s literature today is unsafe. Dr. Seuss has been banned by some, and even the late, beloved children’s writer, Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach, recently came under fire. He almost had hundreds of changes posthumously made to his books.

Thankfully, after the uproar against the attempted bowdlerizing Dahl’s works, Random House decided to continue to make available the books as Roald Dahl wrote them—while still offering the new, edited, sanitized versions.

About 25 years ago, I paid good money to the estate of Roald Dahl to use portions of his classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in a book of short stories I compiled.

My book, The Moral of the Story, published by Broadman & Holman (1996, now out of print), included selections from various stories that helped illustrate the nefarious nature of the Seven Deadly Sins. They are Pride, Greed, Envy, Anger, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth. The Bible condemns each of these sins. But would today’s culture perhaps make each of them a virtue?

Portions of Dahl’s Willy Wonka story were perfect for the section of my book dealing with gluttony. Dahl cleverly exposed the pitfalls of eating “beyond one’s seams,” including one boy named Augustus Gloop, that “nincompoop.” Dahl called him “fat.” The modern censors tried to change that and other offensive details.

In the famous scene I was able to reproduce, some fortunate children win a special visit to Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory. While on the tour, Augustus Gloop is unable to resist the temptation to get down on the banks of a magic chocolate river and lap as much of it as he can, like a dog.

Wonka and Gloop’s parents warn Augustus against doing this. “But Augustus was deaf to everything except the call of his enormous stomach,” writes Dahl. And then Augustus Gloop experiences humiliating punishment for his gluttony.

Part of the impulse to “clean up” Dahl’s writings is to make sure that people wouldn’t be offended.

But who knows how many children might have been warned into avoiding a life of excessive overeating and the consequent deleterious effects on health that flow from it? God warns against gluttony and other sins because they are harmful for us.

With our cultural revolution, which can’t tell men from women, if you say that some behavior someone engages in is wrong, you might hurt their feelings. Well, there is a Constitutional freedom of speech. But there’s not a Constitutional right to not be offended. Besides, hurt feelings might actually lead to needed changes.

The Bible is frank about man being sinful. The founders of America acknowledged that reality and created the most durable governing document in history, the U.S. Constitution, because it conforms to the empirical reality that we are sinful.

John Adams, a key founding father, commented on man’s sinful nature by observing that those in power tend to become like “ravenous beasts of prey.” Thus, the founders separated power so that no one group could lord it over the others.

The Scriptures say that we have all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. They also explain how God forgives sin for those who repent and call on Jesus who died for sinners and rose again from the dead.

However, in our post-Christian society, there is a major push to make everything woke—even by whitewashing classic children’s literature. Where does it all stop? When can children be children again?

When can sin be viewed as sin again? Isn’t it better to admit wrongdoing than to try to redefine what is wrong in the first place? There are moral standards that come from beyond ourselves. As Cecil B. De Mille once noted, “We cannot break the Ten Commandments. We can only break ourselves against them.” Thus, endeth my Lenten meditation.

This article was originally published at JerryNewcome.com.

My mentor, when I became the leader of a pro-life organization, told me that it was not enough to inform Christians regarding the issues at stake in the abortion battle; I had to give them something to do or they would become frustrated and inactive. As I have listened to conservatives address the multiple threats the Left poses to America and our liberties, I find myself frustrated by the lack of options they present.

On one hand, there are a multitude of organizations and politicians asking for donations to “save the country;” but with the potential of scams being so real, knowing which requests are legitimate and which are making a difference is very difficult to determine. Contributing to an organization one is comfortable with is a start, but wisdom would suggest that America’s problems are such that more is required of us than merely making a donation. But at some point, if a person hears only how bad things are but is provided no course of action, he may grow weary and go back to whatever he was doing.

I understand the dearth of suggestions. The Left has gained such a stranglehold on so many of America’s core political and cultural institutions that things appear virtually hopeless. It does seem that there is very little an individual can do. However, such defeatism must not be permitted to shut down our efforts to oppose and overcome the Left’s agenda.

So, what is to be done?

First, Trust in God. By this, I am not referring to the trite and silly offering so many make of “have faith!” No, genuine trust in God requires an understanding of God, His nature, sovereignty, wisdom, and grace. So often His ways are, as a theologian would express it, inscrutable-beyond our understanding. We who have enjoyed the blessings of liberty want to see those blessings continue indefinitely, especially for our posterity. However, Scriptures are clear that God will one day destroy all earthly kingdoms and establish His own, with His Son on the throne. There is much we do not know of events between now and that great day, but one thing is clear: the world will be in the grasp of tyrannical powers by the time the Son of God makes His appearance to claim Earth’s throne. It takes no genius to see how perilously close we are to such a scenario at this moment.

Which leads us back to the point: we must learn what trusting God really means.  An important part of it is accepting that what we desire may not be His will! He is not our genie in a bottle to give us our desires. He has an infinitely wise and eternal plan for the world, and He will carry it to completion. His will may include the end of America as we know it sooner than we like. It may include persecution for those who love and honor Him. On the other hand, it may include a revival and revitalization of the nation for an unknown duration!

On what basis would God bring about such a revival? That is the question that none can answer. We simply do not and cannot know that. What we do know is that God offered Israel numerous opportunities to repent of their sinful rebellion and return to Him, even when it seemed all was lost. Because He is a gracious God and loves mercy, He may turn what appears to be an inevitable end of America into another “Great Awakening.” As one theologian noted, “God is a God of the cliff-hanger.” It is safe to say that He delights to “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”

Thus, I would suggest that the nation needs an authoritative call to repentance from every preacher, every pulpit, and every Christian. As it was so often in both Old and New Testament times, sin is rampant and glibly tolerated. Violence dominates the headlines, and God is scorned on every hand. No honest person can deny the similarity between the culture of today and that of Noah’s time when God noted that “every thought and intent of their hearts was only evil continually.” It is sobering to recall that Christ stated that as it was in the days of Noah, so it would be when He returned!

Another major hurdle in the process of preparing America for God’s blessing is that we are in this predicament in the first place largely because of apathy on the part of America’s Christians. We must stir ourselves into action. Slothfulness has never been a virtue and allows the vile and wicked to prosper and succeed. In the political arena, for example, it is said that only a fraction of professing Christians vote. If this is true, simply stirring up the lackadaisical will go a long way toward changing the political landscape, assuming those professing faith are genuine and will vote their consciences.

Someone has said that “If Christ were coming back tomorrow, I would plant a tree today, because He said, ‘occupy ‘til I come.’” A primary responsibility each of us has towards God is to faithfully do what He has told us to do, and that would include exposing and opposing wickedness. In America we have this call upon us first as Christians, but secondarily as good citizens. We citizens are, by the design of the U.S. Constitution, the actual government. All that happens in America is done under our authority, and thus we must be involved!

Therefore, I suggest the following:

1.) Be constantly in prayer. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplications, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”  Philippians 4:6. God is sovereign overall and works in conjunction with the prayers of His people to accomplish His will.

2.) Do not allow yourself to be pressured to conform to the thinking or conduct of the world, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. . . .” Romans 12:2.  This means that we are to resist the corrupting influence of immorality, dishonesty, crudeness, pride and all ungodliness that has become normative for American culture, especially as it is promoted by Hollywood. Stop allowing the filth and nihilism of the Left to infect your mind and the minds of your children!

3.) Speak up and resist the open wickedness. “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”  Ephesians 5:11. Because “the wicked flee when no man pursues,” we can accomplish much good by simply pointing out the wickedness of our culture and calling it what it is! It is also our right and responsibility to vote, and to do so intelligently. Be an informed voter and vote according to biblical principles. Also, be bold and encourage other Christians to take their biblical and constitutional responsibilities seriously and vote, too!

4.) Protect the vulnerable and powerless, such as children, the unborn, and their mothers. “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.”  Proverbs 24:11.  “You shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.”  Exodus 22:22. From a nation created to “promote the blessings of liberty” to the future generations, America has degenerated into a nation that preys upon the young and helpless. We must be their defenders! This includes removing children from public schools which inculcate children with every kind of vice and evil.

5.) The stakes for America and her children are so high that we must no longer allow our concern for what others think of us hinder our involvement. The only One whose view of you matters is Jesus Christ, and He calls you and me to action!

This is by no means a comprehensive list of the things you and I might do to make a difference. While we are called to patience and to give people the benefit of the doubt when we do not know their motives, there is no longer any doubt as to the evil intentions of the Left! They truly represent all that is opposed to Godliness and goodness, and no longer even attempt to hide their wicked intentions. Therefore, let us “fight the good fight of faith,” as Paul said, and place our futures safely in the hands of the Loving Creator who “loves us and gave Himself for us.”

There is no longer any room for spectators in the arena of public affairs.

Most of what you read in the news (and, to be frank, most of what we at IFI report in our daily articles) focuses on things the writer thinks are wrong with the world. That’s certainly a vital function of journalism. All the same, it’s definitely a blessing when a journalist gets to report on something God-honoring happening in the world.

Earlier this month, U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-Lincoln) announced the launch of the Congressional Family Caucus from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. In a brief but spirited speech, she explained that the caucus’ purpose is to defend the natural family from Left-grounded erosion. She subsequently criticized the Left for its support of “abortion, fatherlessness, surgical castration, and atheism,” as well as “eliminating parental consent and replacing families with the state.”

As the Congresswoman laid out the stakes in the battle over the family, she was firmly clear both about what the family is and about why the family matters. The “natural family,” as she put it, is “a man and a woman committed for life to each other and to their children,” and is fundamental for our nation’s prosperity as it is “the root of self-government, service, community, and personal responsibility.” To top it all off, she cited Deuteronomy 6 to justify why the family ought to be the hub of instructing our children to love and obey God, then she contended that U.S. Representatives have a moral obligation to protect the family. The caucus is co-sponsored by U.S. Representatives Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Brian Babin (R-TX).

And all from the floor of the House of Representatives. That Mrs. Miller had the boldness to call out the importance of the family was one thing, but to chastise the Left for their relentless undermining, to unequivocally define the traditional family contrary to the torrent of popular opinion, and to cite Scripture as support for her initiative, all deserve a standing ovation.

In an interview with Tony Perkins, Miller explained her and her co-sponsors’ efforts more specifically. The caucus’ purpose is to inform legislators about upcoming bills that would promote or tear down the traditional family. This would not only include legislation that is directly aimed at the family, but also bills that might have a completely different surface-level purpose—such as bills pertaining to the economy—but which have family-impacting implications. Miller again emphasized that God’s command about the instruction of children was given to parents, not to the government. And when Perkins asked her how she could use prayer, Miller referenced Psalm 18’s emphasis on the importance of words and asked for prayer for words that would be used to build people up. Let’s pray that the Lord continues to give Miller boldness to speak the firm and simple truth to a world that is blazing with lies.

Speaking of which, although Representative Miller said that the caucus has been met with a great deal of support, not everyone is thrilled about the new show in town. An article in the American Independent warned about the “new anti-LGBTQ Congressional Family Caucus, “lumping it together with recent GOP-sponsored bills addressing transgender bathrooms, locker rooms, and military service as yet another attack on the transgender community. We can only expect that the more effective the caucus becomes, the more fire it will draw from those who reject traditional, scriptural morality and seek to erode it. If you live in Illinois, but especially if you live in Legislative District 15, send Representative Miller an encouraging letter right now.

The controversy over transgenderism arose a few years ago seemingly out of nowhere. But when it did arise, it erupted like a cultural Mount St. Helens.

The transgender cause has not been part of the homosexual communities’ agenda until recently.

When Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen wrote their book, published in 1990, “After the Ball: How America will conquer its fear and hatred of Gays in the 90’s,” I do not recall they made any mention of the transgender issue. At that time, there were transvestites—men that dressed as women who were a recognized part of the community. They were still gay, saw themselves as men, and were still interested in men. And there were “butch” lesbians. Many dressed like men, but still saw themselves as women and were attracted to women. Such variety among homosexuals is not unusual.

While homosexuality was removed from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as a mental illness in 1973, transgenderism was first categorized as a psychosexual disorder in 1980. In 1994, the classification was changed to gender identity disorder, and in 2013 it was changed to gender dysphoria. Today, gender dysphoria remains categorized as a mental illness.

The modern history of recognizing transgenderism as something different from homosexuality dates to the German doctor Magnus Hirschfeld, who founded the Institute for Sexual Research in Berlin in 1919. In 1930 he performed the first known sexual reassignment surgery. Before Hirschfeld, not much clearly is known about the issue. The history is murky, to say the least. There isn’t even much known about the Institute for Sexual Research either since the Institute was destroyed by the Nazis in 1933 and all the Institute’s books and records were burned. Hirschfeld was forced into exile and he died in France two years later.

The first American to become widely known after having undergone sexual reassignment surgery was Christine Jorgensen, born George William Jorgensen, Jr. Jorgensen served in the U.S. Army in Europe during WWII and while there learned of fledgling practice of sex reassignment surgeries. Throughout his life he had been troubled by his “lack of male development,” but we don’t know what he meant by that. In any case, after returning from the war he began taking estrogen and in 1952 he received permission from doctors in Copenhagen to undergo a series of surgeries there.

A letter he later wrote to his parents announcing that he now was Christine somehow was leaked to the press. The story was widely circulated, and Christine Jorgensen became a household name. Jorgensen remained somewhat of a celebrity for the rest of his life—as an oddity, not as a norm. He died in San Clemente, CA in 1989 at the age of 62.

Until after 2010, there has been very little public awareness about the transgender issue. However, since 2006, a recent survey showed, there has been a 4,000% increase in youths seeking transgender treatment. Additionally, prior the to 2000’s a large majority  of those seeking transgender treatment were males seeking to transition to female. Today that has reversed. Now 70% of those seeking transgender care are female wanting to become male. During the early years the general public was completely unaware of the changes. Now most are aware of many issues involving transgenders’—biological males using female restrooms and locker rooms, biological males on female sports teams, hormone and surgical treatments, etc.—but few have greater than a superficial understanding.

Perhaps the first inkling that the general public got of the sexuality changes going on behind the scenes was in February, 2014, when the Amazon Original show, “Transparent,” (about a parent, Morton, coming out transwoman, Maura) was released to critical acclaim. The show centered on the characters exploring their sexuality and their reactions to others. In no way could the show be considered a real-life attempt to understand what a real-life mental illness is, gender dysphoria. It was an emotionally manipulative series aimed at normalizing transgenderism.

The awakening of the general public began to accelerate when the Obama Administration issued instructions to U.S. Schools that Title IX applied to trans girls, requiring schools to allow biological boys to play on girls’ teams and to use girls’ facilities. While the Trump Administration later rescinded those rules, the schools already were full speed ahead implementing the Obama Administration’s plan. The Biden Administration is accelerating the agenda even faster.

The pandemic and parents becoming more aware of what their children are being taught, the press coverage of the 4000% increase in the number of trans youths, Abigail Shrier’s 2020 bestselling book, “Irreversible Damage,” all have coalesced to make the issue seem like a freight train, thundering down a mountain, after losing its brakes.

To many of us the last five years has seemed out of control, that the world has lost it’s collective mind on this issue. Who could possibly think that when a child as young as four or five, or maybe even younger, says they were born in the wrong body we should accept that as true? That is insane. But we are told its settled science. Moreover, courts and schools and government at all levels have steamrolled any opposition.

Most people must believe this insane idea, right? It turns out, no.

Last month, Summit Ministries of Manitou Springs, CO, released the results of a poll it commissioned. McLaughlin and Associates conducted the poll of 1,000 likely voters from all over the country. It was a stratified random sample that covered all ages, parties, races, voting behavior, sex, ideology, education, population density, and region of the country. One of the questions that was asked was: “What is your reaction to efforts to expose children to the transgender movement using things like drag shows, school curriculum, and social media.” To my surprise, of the 92% that answered the question, 71% of the participants were concerned, while 29% were not upset or concerned. Of the 71%, 41% described themselves as very concerned or angry.

The other question that was asked was “Do you believe that pharmaceutical companies and doctors who promote puberty blockers and cross sex hormones for underage children seeking gender transition should be legally liable for any harmful side effects that arise?” There were 826 of the 1000 participants that answered that question, 83%. Of those, again 71% answered yes, while 29% replied, no.

It is encouraging that at least 71% of us have some common sense. So why are we electing legislators and hiring people for government jobs who don’t? That is a genuine mystery.

When it comes to truth, though, who believes what makes no difference. Just because the whole world believes a lie, that does not make it true. The challenge for us today is to find the closest proximity to truth that we can on this issue. Some experts believe that chemically and surgically mutilating healthy sex organs is the best course of action. Other experts are repelled by the thought, instead favoring talk therapy.

My research points to more experts being repelled than being in favor of the mutilating chemical and surgical interventions. In these circumstances, doesn’t the solution seem clear? Shouldn’t treatment be that which causes the least harm, while allowing the experts to continue researching and debating the issue?

It seems to me that would be the best practice for decision making, as well as the least divisive. Let’s end the eruption and toxic hostility . . . on this issue, at least.

The great theologian and reformer, John Calvin, studied law before his conversion and service to the Lord as a pastor and teacher. He later wrote and taught on the use and purpose of God’s law:

1] It shows the way of perfect righteousness and also reveals to us how great is our sin.

2] It helps to restrain evil and maintain order in society.

3] It continues to guide believers in terms of our duty.

This is a very helpful summary that guides us in terms of our duty both to share God’s law and the gospel. God’s law is perfect, but it cannot provide salvation because no man save the Lord Jesus Christ can keep it perfectly.

Many Christians rightfully are concerned about sharing the gospel. We know that the gospel alone is what changes sinners from rebels to servants of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16-17). However, too many Christians ignore the proper purpose of the law. Although all men have been created in God’s image and know that there is a God and are aware of His power (Rom. 1:20), God did not just tell people to rely on their inner sense of right and wrong. God created our conscience, but He still determined to reveal His law to Israel, which, when properly understood, is applicable today.

This means that we cannot just sit back and hope that people will trust in Jesus. The reality of man’s sinfulness must be proclaimed along with the horror of God’s judgment. The hope and promises of the gospel must also be shared.

When we see wicked laws instituted at the state and federal level, laws that go against God’s law, we must speak out. The shedding of innocent blood through abortion cannot be tolerated. We cannot simply hide behind the fact that we ultimately want people to be converted and remain silent on the key issues of the day.

We live in a diverse nation, but morality cannot simply be determined by public consensus. The source of law is the God of all societies. We have witnessed a very long but demonstrable legal, moral, and religious revolution as, increasingly, the basis for the law has less to do with God and everything to do with public sentiment. This is not acceptable for those who know the truth.

Francis Shaeffer was once asked the question, “What would you do if you met a really modern man on a train and you had just an hour to talk to him about the gospel?” Shaeffer replied:

I’ve said over and over, I would spend 45-50 minutes on the negative, to really show him his dilemma – that he is morally dead – then I’d take 10-15 minutes to preach the gospel. I believe that much of our evangelistic work and personal work today is not clear simply because we are too anxious to get to the answer without having a man realize the real cause of his sickness, which is true moral guilt (and not just psychological feelings) in the presence of God. (Will Metzger, Tell the Truth)

In an earlier article, I mentioned the 2022 State of Theology conducted by Ligonier and LifeWay Research. That survey showed that on some matters, evangelical Christians overall have a correct view:

94% of evangelicals think sex outside of traditional marriage is a sin and 91% think that abortion is a sin. However, other questions continue to indicate confusion on important matters.

For instance, 37% of evangelicals believe that gender identity is a matter of choice, and 28% believe that the Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.

On these two key issues, our world is going crazy, and over a quarter of evangelicals have little problem with the direction. We very much need the correction and guidance found in God’s Law on all these issues.

We must not be ashamed of God’s truth; rather, we must boldly and lovingly declare what God’s law states concerning sin and seek to share with sinners their only hope of salvation in the message of the gospel. In this way, we stand against the false message of tolerance, and we guard against hypocrisy.

Let’s commit to being faithful in sharing God’s law and gospel.

Gallup recently released poll results showing that 7.2% of American adults identify as “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual.” When Gallup first started measuring LGBT statistics in 2012, this number was 3.5%, which means that the LGBT community as a proportion of the U.S. population has doubled over the last ten years.

However, the poll displays a more nuanced result when this 7.2% of the population is  broken down proportionally by age group. Only 1.7% of the Silent Generation, 2.7% of baby boomers, and 3.3% of Generation X identify as LGBT, which leaves the remainder of the U.S. population’s 7.2% to be made up by millennials and Generation Z: a significant 11.2% of the former and a staggering 19.7% of the latter. So according to Gallup’s numbers, not only is 1 or 2 in every 20 U.S. adults lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or “other LGBT,” but 1 in every 5 gen-z-ers is. We’ve come a long way over the last 50 years. Flash back to 1972, when the American Psychiatric Association was classifying homosexuality as a mental illness; now, in 2022, 1 in every 5 of young adults place themselves outside of the traditional heterosexual paradigm.

For some, this poll reflects an admirable shift in American culture. As society becomes more accepting and affirming of the lifestyle—celebrating it as an important aspect of a person’s identity and normalizing it to the younger generation—more and more of the nation’s young people go off to explore their sexualities in these sinful ways while they are young and impressionable and those who should be seeking help for this sexual disorder now feel legitimized in this broken lifestyle. Cathy Renna, the National LGBTQ Task Force communications director, seemed to convey this sentiment in her remarks to USA TODAY:

Who we are is rooted deeply in us and is something young people – growing up in a culture that has finally been able to tell them that they are aren’t alone [sic], that they are beautiful and perfect exactly as they are – will never turn back from now.

Sadly, however, Renna’s remark is truer than she might think. When young people grow up in a culture that tells them they are perfect “exactly as they are,” they might very well never turn back from it.

In Generation Z’s results, we now see the cumulative effects of the steady push to legalize, then normalize, then praise these sinful lifestyles. There’s a reason almost no one in the Silent Generation answered the Gallup poll as LGBT—they were all born before 1945, in a world which was not perfect by any means, but which was definitely more true to biblical standards of sexuality than ours is today. As the generations rolled on, the push to affirm the LGBT lifestyles got louder and louder, but it wasn’t until the most recent generations that we could really say that young people have “grown up” in such a sin-affirming world.

Most of us have a hard time imagining what the world would be like without cars, because we all grew up in a world saturated with them. We no longer think about whether they are beneficial or detrimental, as I’m sure many people did at the turn of the 20th century; we just accept them as a matter of fact, because they are an integral part of our world and they are here to stay. Likewise, I think many of the younger generations are now going to have a hard time imagining what the world would be like if heterosexual marriage were the universal norm. Vigorous debate does still persist right now, but if trends continue like they have been, then it’s going to be harder and harder to get people to believe the biblical paradigm. Perversion will be an integral part of our world and here to stay—or, as Renna put it, young people “will never turn back now.” For her movement, it’s a trend of liberation. But this is not liberty—this is bondage.

The Bible frighteningly describes how societies slip into this kind of sexual perversion—as a form of bondage, rather than a form of liberation. For those who want to see our nation avoid cultural self-destruction, this trend should bring us to our knees. Here’s the basic outline: God has made Himself plain to everyone, so that we are all without excuse if we try to deny Him (Rom. 1:19–20). Nevertheless, unbelievers refuse to acknowledge God; although they know God, they neither glorify Him as God nor are thankful to Him (Rom. 1:21).

So what is God’s response? Does God try to reveal Himself harder? Give people more signs? Make people think more clearly? No, the opposite is true. While God definitely extends His grace to many, and no one is beyond His saving power, Paul explains the natural trend of the unbelievers that refuse to glorify God: their thinking will become futile and their hearts will be darkened (Rom. 1:21). This is not liberation; this is debilitation. Even though they might claim to be wise—maybe even “woke” to all the injustices that no one else can see—unbelievers become fools. They exchange God’s glory for mere images (Rom. 1:22–23).

But the consequences don’t stop there. Not only does sin affect the mind, as unbelievers will claim to be wise while actually becoming fools, but rejection of God also affects sexuality. The very next step is that God gives them over—the same word used when Jesus predicted his betrayal—to sexual impurity, degrading their bodies (Rom. 1:24). They will exchange God’s truth for lies, and slip further into bondage. The unbelievers no longer serve God, but serve creation (Rom. 1:25).

This only spirals downwards, because God then gives them over—there’s that phrase again—to vile lusts (Rom. 1:26). And what are these vile lusts? Then come the chilling words:

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).

It may sound cold to some, but here’s the harsh truth: homosexuality is not an immutable identity—it was never the way humans were ever supposed to be. Rather, when it is prevalent in a society, it is an enslaving consequence of rejecting God.

A society that openly accepts sin is far, far down the broad and wide road, and accordingly, Paul ends this passage by listing a series of evils, and then criticizing those who “not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32, ESV, italics mine). Which is what Renna, along with an increasingly vocal portion of our society, is now doing.

The increasing population proportion of the LGBT community and the promulgation of its acceptance are feeding each other in a vicious cycle. Renna hit the nail exactly on the head when she observed that a culture of acceptance will mean youth will never turn back. But that is precisely what is so frightening. Youth will never turn back if youth is enslaved by sexual perversion, having been “given over” to it as a consequence of sin. Our society is already far down the Romans 1 path that begins with rejecting God and ends in enslaving debauchery.

Only by a miracle of God can it be redeemed.

But our God is a God who answers prayer, and He is also a God of miracles.

Any parent knows that trying to raise children is difficult. Especially if you are trying to raise your kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord in a post-Christian society, such as our own. Everywhere you turn it seems like the world is trying to destroy any semblance of innocence in the hearts and minds of the youngest in society. How is a parent supposed to compete when the world is so dark? One of the most important decisions a Christian parent can make is where their children are going to go to school – who is going to be teaching them, and what are they going to be taught?

Well, the Village Church of Barrington recently held a seminar that helped to answer this question entitled: “Parenting in a Godless Culture: Educating Parents and Grandparents,”

Elder Greg Nash kicks the seminar off by discussing what the Bible says about educating children and why so many young adults and kids have a worldly worldview. Videos of each speaker have been posted online, and we’ve linked the first video here. Please be sure to watch and share!

An interesting discussion between Dan Proft (Chicago’s Morning Answer AM 560) and State Representative LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) about his parental bullying bill, HB 29. The bill’s synopsis states that a parent commits “parental bullying” “when he or she knowingly and with the intent to discipline, embarrass, or alter the behavior of the minor, transmits any verbal or visual message that the parent or legal guardian reasonably believes would coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to the minor.”

From the bill:

A parent or legal guardian of a minor commits parental bullying when he or she knowingly and with the intent to discipline, embarrass, or alter the behavior of the minor, transmits any verbal or visual message that the parent or legal guardian reasonably believes would coerce, intimidate, harass, or cause substantial emotional distress to the minor.

It’s beyond understanding that lawmakers are now attempting to put an end to a parent’s role to attempt to change bad behavior in their child. If that’s not ridiculous enough, if found guilty, a fine could be imposed upon the parent that would be held in escrow and given to the minor when he/she turned 18.

Talk about an incentive for kids to take their parents to court for doing their job!

Watch this interview session as Chicago’s Morning Answer radio host Dan Proft interviews the sponsor of this terrible proposal and please share it on your social media platforms!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I realize that there are many definitions of what a Christian is, but I am writing to those of you who have, like me, trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and have been born again.

We live in perilous times, and for the first time in hundreds of years on this continent, we face serious opposition and potential persecution.  It is not a pleasant thought, and we will find it very tempting to compromise truth, or just remain silent.  But that is not really an option!  Whether it will come to actual persecution as our brothers and sisters in China, North Korea and elsewhere face, only God knows.  Either way, it should not surprise us that we are hated by people of the world and especially by the Left.  Jesus noted when He was here that the world hated Him, and thus they would hate those who chose to follow Him.  In fact, He stated in Matthew 5, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.  Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven!” (Matt 5:11, 12 NKJV).  As poorly as we Christians have followed Christ, (and we must admit to failing Him), the aura of Christ still somehow shines through and those who hate Him also hate what they see of Him in us.  Interestingly, humorist Mark Twain noted that “there is nothing more irritating than a good example!”  Righteousness intimidates unrighteousness, and light angers those who love darkness.

America has been richly blessed beyond all other nations in history, and those of us who know our nation’s history, and are aware of how God has blessed the entire world through America, hate to see her attacked, and slandered.  Most people throughout time have lived under one type of tyrant or another.  Whether they were called kings, emperors, pharaohs, premiers, or comrades, the lives of average citizens were generally unpleasant, often miserable, and certainly not free.  Whether God, in His grace, renews our liberties or not hangs in the balance at the moment, but we must understand that Scriptures are clear that there will be no place like America during the final years of world history just prior to Christ establishing His kingdom.  We do not know God’s plan for this country, upon which He “shed His grace.”

However, this is not a call for passivity!  Because we do not know God’s mind, we should continue pleading for an extension of His grace to America.  But too many Christians appear to believe that merely asking for God’s blessing is sufficient.  I read and hear many people saying, “God bless America” without and reference to the fact that America has turned its back to God!  On what basis do we expect His blessings?  We should consider a relevant text found in II Chronicles where God specifically addresses this subject.  II Chronicles 7:14, while written for Israel and not the United States, still presents the theological pathway to a place where God might bestow His blessing, and that pathway begins with humility and repentance.  There is no reason for Christians to think that God will pour out His rich grace on America when multitudes of Christians live like the world and persist in activities and attitudes that are disgusting to His holiness!  Parents know better than to give treats to children who are disobeying them.  Do we think that God is not as wise as parents?

The “world system” is at war with God, and James warned in his letter that Christians who seek to please the world rather than God are like adulterers.  He noted, “he who would be a friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God!”  We cannot serve two masters; we must make our choice!  Twenty-eight-year-old missionary, Jim Elliot, who was martyred for his faith in 1956, wrote, “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

Whatever gain you might make, or think you make by going along with the world will be short-lived at best and may cost you eternal blessings.  Christ said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. . . .” (Matt. 6:19 NKJV).  It is not surprising when those who see this world as all there is, have no scruples in taking for themselves whatever they want without regard to the impact and cost to others.  But we Christians ought to know better.  It is a foolish Christian who allows himself to be tricked into thinking this world offers more than Christ does, or that we can please both the world and God!

I would like to urge every Christian who reads this to do some honest soul-searching to determine to what length they have compromised God’s word and righteousness in order to get along and avoid the world’s displeasure.  In whatever way you have failed in obedience, repent today, and accept God’s grace.  Whether it has been overt sinfulness, or passive silence in the face of the wickedness of our culture, determine to stand now!  Bring your spiritual, cultural, political, and personal choices into harmony with God’s revealed will.  Rebuke the evils of the culture, reaching out with the compassion of Christ to those injured by the prevalent hedonism of the day, and point hungry hearts to Christ!  He alone can save and bring hope and peace!

If we equivocate with our message.  If we remain silent in the face of evil.  If we are passive in dealing with the lies being foisted upon America and especially the children and young people, we will be failing God, and we will be failing those whose lives are being destroyed.  Have you considered the despair that characterizes millions of American young people who hear nothing but the nihilism and hopelessness of secularism that dominates the educational establishment and contemporary culture?  Do the deaths of tens of thousands of children and young adults through drug poisoning and suicide every year mean nothing?  Are you aware of the innocent little children being exploited and groomed by the sexualized curriculum of public education and public libraries?  God calls us to “deliver them that are drawn onto death. . . . “  (Prov. 24:11 KJV).

We have no way of knowing whether God’s gracious face will shine once more upon America;  but if He does not revive the nation, if we have been faithful to the One who redeemed us with His own blood on the cross, He will welcome us one day to His home with a “well done, good and faithful servant!”

Few Christians have been given great wealth or power, but everyone of us has been called to point people to the cross of Christ where they find forgiveness, peace, and joy for eternity; and that is a great calling and is well worth whatever little it might cost us here.

But there may be some who read this and wonder what I mean by the term “born again.”  Unfortunately, the expression has been hijacked for a variety of other uses and has been maligned by many.  However, Jesus Christ, in the third chapter of the Gospel of John, stated that one must be “born again” to see and enter His Kingdom!  For that reason, it is very important that you know what it really means.

Paul, the Apostle, wrote that everyone enters this world spiritually “dead in trespasses and sin.”  Death, in this context, refers to our being separated from God.  God, being perfectly holy and righteous, must and did separate Himself from us sinners, for “there is none righteous, no, not one,” (Rom. 3:10 NKJV).  Death is alienation from God, life is to be in fellowship with, or connected to God.  Thus, we all begin at the same place: spiritually “dead.”  However, when we understand that Jesus Christ’s death on the cross in our place “paid” the penalty for our sin, and that He offers us forgiveness when we repent and trust Him, the pathway to life becomes available to us.  Therefore, if we turn from our sin, ask, and trust Him for forgiveness, we are “born again” and become His children! (John 1:12).  We are at that moment given spiritual “life” for the first time and will never die spiritually; that is, we will never be separated from God again!  “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  (John 3:16 NKJV).

If you have spoken with God, asked for His forgiveness and asked Him to make you His child, based upon the fact that Jesus paid for your sin, we would love to hear from you!

Written by Ed Straka

In his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business, author Neil Postman describes the growth and outright dominance of the entertainment industry and the all-pervading influence it has had upon American culture. More to the point – the book illustrated how a culture could literally be dumbed down by the type of entertainment it dealt with and consisted of. Equally telling in the author’s mind was how much time was spent viewing and reading material that was as frivolously meaningless as it was sensual and vulgar.

Yet, and co-relative to the above was the unfortunate reality that people no longer spent time reading, thinking about, or discussing things of import (Phil. 4:8). Rather, they chose to contemplate the words of some popular gadfly, movie star or rap musician, or lose themselves in endless hours of television. In other words, Proverbs tells us that the fool’s eyes are in the ends of the earth (Proverbs 17:24), but in our case – it’s the TV, video games and the tabloids. Postman suggested that our media was used like the drug “Soma” in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World to medicate the masses into complacency.

Now and Then

As much as I agree with Postman’s assessment of our culture and the mindless rabble it appears to be producing exponentially, I would also like to suggest there is an even greater and more pernicious threat out there today that not only invites people into an alternative world – but a world of randomness and outright oblivion. A world so absorbing, not to mention stimulating, that young people prefer it to reality – and in time – seem to detach themselves from reality.

Consider: When we were growing up, the big thing was movies. There were no video games, only Checkers, Monopoly and pinball games at the bowling alley and the big concern of our parents was sexuality. Hollywood then – as it continues to now – constantly pushed the envelope with both language and the dress code. The racier movies were a cause of concern for our parents who, more often than not, banished us into the other room where we lamented our excommunication from the world of adults which meant access to movies with bad language and loose dress codes.

This was only natural: our desire was for the things that adults were aware of and participated in, accentuated by the fact that our parents kept it from us. Even to this day sexuality is cause for concern not only in the sense of living in a carnal society that seeks to seduce everyone and everything, but also in the real world of teen pregnancy and the unfortunate abortion of those unwanted babies (despite the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade).

What movies especially did for the young, however, was to teach us about the world and the things in it. Above all, it taught us to dream about being a hero and heroes generally did the right thing. Even Jimmy Cagney when playing a gangster on his way to the electric chair could be counted on to say that his life was a waste and he had made a mistake if it meant scaring some kids straight. The biggest downside to TV back then was we probably watched too much of it.

Stories had a definite beginning with a goal, a problem, a solution to the problem and the struggle to apply the solution. All stories had an ending which was clear to the eye of the beholder. When it was all said and done, we kids knew they were only movies although we wanted to be like the people we saw in those movies.

Ideas Within

Today, however, things are different. In fact, there is an even greater problem in society that is wrapped up in the very fiber of our youth culture today that goes beyond bad language and loose dress codes. This “problem” stems from the pens and typewriters of men who rule the world from the grave, philosophically speaking: Marx, Nietzsche, Darwin, Freud, B.F. Skinner, and Jean Paul Sarte.

Each of these men had a profound, atheistic philosophy of life that influenced various academic disciplines and their perspective on the field of anthropology and what it means to be human. We don’t see it as clearly for two reasons:

First off, it is embedded in many of the movies, music, video games and comic books that our young people are involved with and if we do catch a glimpse, we just label it as “violent.”

Secondly, most people don’t study philosophy, so they don’t know the major players and the terms and phrases used by these men nor the implications of these terms and phrases when applied.

I can assure you, however, our modern media is much more than just “violent” but decidedly dangerous in terms of the human psyche because it stems from the internal dynamic latent within us all: sin. Modern technology amplifies sin and the desire for it with all the bells and whistles and unbelievable graphics. Equally, there is something latent within the various forms of media in terms of the ethos portrayed philosophically.

What’s not realized by most people is that many philosophers over the centuries perpetuated various non-Christian beliefs through their writings and these ideas ended up in educational institutions and the students of these educational institutions eventually graduated and joined mainstream America as educators, musicians, script writers and novelists.

Playtime?…

In time would come the world of high-tech video game developers who themselves pirated many of these ideas they encountered in a class, or in a movie or book, and used them to build what is called in movies a “story line” or “plot” and in the gaming world a “scenario.”

Some movies are obscene in the true sense of the word’s definition: it belongs “off stage” meaning it’s not necessary to advance the plot of the movie or play. Hollywood is replete with these movies and with the rise of Netflix we now have access to movies from abroad that have no moral sensibilities at all in terms of what they allow on screen.

Video games are not much better. Although I’ve never seen the games, nor did my boys buy them, there are games one can play featuring scenarios that can be anything from shooting up a school or public building to rape and out-right destruction of a city. I believe the most infamous such game is called “Grand Theft Auto.”

What needs to be understood is this: these are not just games and movies! They are philosophical & psychological conditioners that proselytize a specific world and life view that is antithetical to Christianity. Equally, it is a world designed to draw us in because it panders to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16): the very things the script writers and game designers have given themselves over to (Jude 1:8).

The themes of most of these novels or movie story lines or video game “scenarios” are built on the witch’s brew of atheism and historical relativism and the reality of what men and women are capable of who were influenced by the ideas of the above-mentioned men if not restrained by a transcendent moral code.

In other words, if the above-mentioned men, and those like them are correct, and there is no fixed reference point in the universe residing metaphysically in an actual God – then there can be no ultimate standard of right and wrong to base morality upon. A prospect which leaves the human race “home alone” as it were, driven by the blind forces of nature which itself is driven by unknowable forces of biological necessity and determinism and nothing else. Man is all impulse and exercises his will with no remorse (1 Corinthians 2:14).

It is this world of relativism mixed in with the idea of man as animal trained by unknown outside forces with no beginning, no purpose, and thus no real goal in life that acts as the backdrop for these games and the various novels and movies available to young people today. All of which is designed to show that there is no ultimate meaning to life: only a colorful, high-tech invitation into the Void.

Granted, my generation caught glimpses of endless, violent life with little purpose in Clint Eastwood westerns and Charles Bronson fighter movies, yet these characters still portrayed a sense of crude justice and generally defended the weak and put down bad guys. Things are different now.

The dominating thing in all the movies, music, comic books, and games today is the quest for three things: ecstasy, escape or power. Each of those concepts has its appeal to different individuals for all human beings have a sinful tendency. But for those to whom God is a non-existent entity these three things are the focus of life, as opposed to what Scripture admonishes us to focus upon (Philippians 4:8).

When It’s All Said and Done

Understand: I’m not suggesting if you or your child plays a video game you will both become a nutcase. I am suggesting that those whose total free time is spent in the world of unreality end up with difficulty when faced with reality and will utilize those tools they have been “evangelized” with via entertainment (1 John 4:3). The new Avatar movie is case and point: history sold with fantastic colors, special effects and graphics that in the end suggests that Western Civilization is cruel, greedy and selfish and if we could only return to the pristine past of the noble savage – in this case blue with tails – all would be well. Ironically, the very system that Cameron castigates is the social-economics system responsible for his great wealth and fame as a director, but what’s $700,000,000 have to do with it?

Thus, as parents who seek to raise their children as well as educate them intentionally for hopes of a brighter, productive future serving in the Kingdom of God, it is important to realize that “education” does not stop with the homeschooling lesson of the day but continues with your child’s entertainment (1 Corinthians 15:33; ESV).

Choose wisely!

Edward Straka has spent most of his adult life in education having taught at the collegiate level  as well as the high school level in the areas of Ancient and Medieval History, U.S. History, World View, Economics and US Government. He has pastored churches in Wisconsin and Mississippi and taught Japanese at Honda of America, and Piqua Community College in Ohio. He has written both historical fiction and futuristic dystopian fiction with a bio-ethical slant as well as nonfiction social theory books available on Amazon. Currently, Mr. Straka teaches Theology and is the acting Director of Christian Liberty Homeschools headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, yet having students throughout the world.

This article was originally published by our friends at Christian Liberty Homeschools.

When the Equitable Restrooms bill was introduced in Springfield, a familiar pattern started to emerge. As IFI readers may know, HB 1286 legalizes “all-gender, multiple-occupancy restrooms” in sporting complexes, stadiums, entertainment centers, conference centers, and other big venues in Illinois. Yes, “all-gender” is just what it sounds like – males and females using the same multiple-occupancy restroom at the same time, anytime. There are urinals, stalls, and partitions in co-ed bathrooms.

So our first reaction at IFI was the same as yours and your neighbor’s. Don’t they know these restrooms will be places where rapes and crimes will occur? Don’t they know that at the very least women will lose their privacy when men are in these restrooms? Don’t they know that a 16-year-old girl who needs to use the restroom is vulnerable to men who will frequent these places with evil intentions? So why would we want to create all-gender bathrooms, especially since there have been crimes committed by more than a few men in women’s restrooms in recent years?

Those are all good questions. Unfortunately, those questions aren’t at the center of debate in Springfield — yet. Like I said at the beginning, a familiar pattern has emerged.

The first complaint by the sponsor and those on the left who support this bill is that HB 1286 doesn’t really do what people think it does. The bill only legalizes and permits, not mandates, these restrooms. Well, IFI readers know this. We wrote about it last month. But some people hearing about this for the first time wrongly thought the bill mandated the restrooms, so the far-left’s been painting the picture that ALL of us are mistaken. And they’re making that the central issue of the debate. If that sounds familiar, you’re right.

In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Satan placed doubt in Eve’s mind that she might be completely mistaken.  That’s the left’s strategy as well – a lie leading to doubt. “All opponents think this bill requires these restrooms to be built. Therefore since it doesn’t, it’s okay to pass the bill.”

We know the bill just permits these restrooms… for the time being at least. But we also know they’re going to be dangerous and that’s why we’re opposed. The left then goes to the second tactic – temptation.

As Satan said, “Well, God knows if you ate of that fruit, your eyes would be opened and you would be like God.” Hmmm…..doesn’t sound that bad, almost tempting. So Eve takes the fruit and gives it to Adam and they sin.

The left once again draws attention away from the truth by saying, “The bill merely provides the framework on how to construct these restrooms. All we’re doing is making sure that if someone does construct these restrooms, they need to do it a certain way for safety reasons.” That might sound more reasonable, but it completely masks the question of ‘Why do we need to provide the framework in the first place?’  What they are trying to avoid is that all-gender multiple occupancy restrooms are currently illegal. And common sense tells us that they’re unsafe. And there’s no amount of framework that will make them safe.

So believe it or not, legislators are not yet publicly debating your privacy or safety in legalizing these restrooms; they’re merely talking about providing the framework for construction of these restrooms which will inevitably also provide the framework for crimes against women and girls.

Even California hasn’t done what Illinois is proposing. Why? It’s unsafe. The closest California has come is proposing a single-use “transgender bathroom” in every school. They would keep the boys and girls restrooms as they are.

Christians are called to love God and love one another. We defend God’s Word here on earth and simply repeat God’s loving reasons why we should not do this or that as it will harm God’s people. We also proclaim what God says would make things better for all people.  In the Capitol, that often means opposing others who feel they are doing the right thing in their own minds.  The hard part is taking all of the slings and arrows that come from intentional misrepresentations, lies, and deceit. And it’s no fun being mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at for standing up for Christian values in this culture war. History repeats this pattern over and over for us Christians. It’s the path Jesus endured to the point of death on a cross. Yes, carried out by those He created and came to save, no less.

But the fact that it’s no surprise allows us to recognize it for what it is and forge ahead with our playbook – which is Scripture – to love God and others, pray for those who persecute us, and to defend God’s Word here on earth. So please continue to do those things.

There are many reasonable, albeit timid, legislators who need you to help them stand up against these assaults on basic values. And please know that the witness slips you filled out on-line against HB 1286 really do witness to many in our Capitol against the lie that gender is chosen by people rather than by God. (“So God created mankind in his own image…male and female he created them” – Gen. 1:27 and “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart” – Jer. 1:5)

Finally, please know that your prayers are felt and invaluable to our cause. We at IFI appreciate them. I pray every day for the far-left – for their health and welfare and their coming closer to God. This is the same prayer I say for myself and my family. This is a spiritual battle, after all.  Do we have the votes to stop HB 1286? I don’t know. I do know this, though. We have a God Who has already won the victory over Satan, both in this world and the next. Which is why God never asks us to be successful. Rather, God only asks us to be faithful to Him – both in our private lives and public capacities.

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to your local state representative to ask him/her to vote against this legislation when it comes up for a vote on the House floor sometime this session. Urge them to reject this foolish woke agenda that fails to recognize biological facts. Ask them to protect the privacy, dignity and safety of all Illinois citizens, especially women and girls.

Please, speak out against this destructive bill.

Dozens of government schools across Illinois have been unable to produce even one single student proficient in reading or math, according to new date from the Illinois State Board of Education. In hundreds of schools across the state, just 10 percent of children are proficient in the basics. And it is getting worse.

The new state data show that less than 30 percent of students in the public “education” system achieved even basic proficiency in reading, down from a measly 37 percent in 2019. Just one fourth of children tested proficient in math, down from already unfathomably poor 32 percent just a few years earlier.

This total failure to educate children on even the most basic elements of learning comes despite massive spending levels dwarfing the cost of government “education” in most other states and countries. Even as spending ballooned, academic results declined, the state board of education’s “Report Card” for 2022 revealed.

Perhaps even more astoundingly, some of the schools that failed to produce even one proficient student in either English or math were rated as “commendable” by the Illinois education bureaucracy — the second-highest ranking possible. How the schools scored so well when the students failed so miserably was not immediately clear.

Even many of the children labeled “proficient” are barely literate at best. But while the students may not be able to read or do math properly, and they almost certainly fail just as bad in science and history, they are almost all very well versed in gender theory, climate-change alarmism, race hysteria, and more. LGBT indoctrination is mandated by law across the state, too.

Breaking down the specifics of the educational disaster, there are 30 schools across Illinois — more than two thirds of them in Chicago — where not a single student ranked even “proficient” in reading. Meanwhile, more than 50 schools across the state failed to produce one single student rated proficient in mathematics. Almost two dozen schools failed to get even one child proficient in either subject.

Critics were aghast. “The absolute failure to teach even a single child to read and do math in so many schools is yet another indictment of the state’s educational system,” explained education analysts Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner at Wirepoints.org in a commentary on the educational catastrophe sweeping Illinois.

Citing the same state data, Dabrowski and Klingner also noted that almost 20 percent of government schools in Illinois — more than 600 in total — were only able to get one in ten victims to basic reading proficiency. Over 25 percent of the schools — almost 1,000 in all — were only able to get one in ten proficient in math. And yet, they continually demand more money.

This is evidence of collective insanity, Dabrowski and Klingner concluded in their widely cited analysis of the state data. “In a sane world, schools that don’t and can’t teach a single student the most basic of skills would be shut down,” they explained. “But here, they carry on…the system thrives while students wither.”

In fact, in any other industry, not only would the entity or entities in question be shut down, the scam artists defrauding and bilking customers out of billions of dollars so flagrantly would be prosecuted for fraud and then thrown in jail. It happens all the time in other sectors of the economy not controlled by government.

Imagine, for example, a fast-food restaurant where only a handful of those who ordered a meal actually got anything remotely resembling food, while most customers were handed toxic waste or a rat carcass on a moldy bun. State police SWAT teams would be kicking in the doors by the next morning, if not before. Politicians would be tripping over themselves to condemn the horror.

And yet, what is happening with government schools is orders of magnitude worse than a mere rip-off fast-food operation peddling inedible meals. In the case of schools, the minds, hearts, and souls of innocent children are being poisoned and irreparably damaged. Meanwhile, families, churches and civilization are crumbling as a result. This is an intergenerational crime of monumental proportions.

Of course, Illinois is hardly alone when it comes to the widespread dumbing-down of children in government schools. Results from across America — even in red states — are atrocious. On average, less than one in three victims of government schools are proficient in any core subject, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (also known as The Nation’s Report Card).

But Illinois spends more, and gets even worse results, than almost all other states. This is a state and national crisis. Children are in grave danger. And as President Ronald Reagan’s National Commission on Excellent in Education warned in 1983, this so-called “education” is now literally an existential threat to America’s very survival as a nation.

Parents must understand clearly that choosing to send their children to a government indoctrination center posing as a “public school” is practically guaranteeing that they will fail to learn even the most basic subjects, to say nothing of basic morality. Not only will that make it tough to have a real job and support it family, it means those children will be easy to manipulate, deceive — and ultimately, enslave.

Fortunately, for those parents who refuse to accept such a bleak future for their children, there has never been a better time to get them out of the system. Homeschooling has never been easier. Excellent Christian schools are proliferating in churches across Illinois and beyond, thanks in part to the efforts of the Illinois Family Institute.

Millions of families have already fled the government “education” system in recent years. As the latest academic results show, it’s time for many more to join them.