Much of my reading are books that are less devotional in nature (focused on a vertical love for Christ) and more of the rational, reasoning, and discriminating emphasis (taking and defending the Faith in the public square). Part of the reason for this is I am committed to equip fellow believers to address the broader cultural challenges we are facing with a Biblical Total Truth Worldview (BTTW).
#1 From Love Thy Body, by Nancey Pearcey
Please consider purchasing this book and after reading and absorbing it, attempt to communicate with others bits of the content. Frame and articulate your comments in short statements to be used in your daily encounters.
Transgenderism
Because of the pervasiveness of transgenderism, I will elaborate. Pearcey will be extremely helpful if you wish to be informed about this subject.
“The transgender narrative completely disassociates gender from biological sex. Values are redefined as matters of subjective personal choice, disconnected from facts, and now gender has been redefined the same way. Gender has become a postmodern concept (no eternal, or universal truths)—indefinable, manipulable (easy to move), fluid, and severed from any connection to biological facts. When gender is severed from biology, it becomes something we can choose—and therefore something we can also change.” p.197-202
I wrote an extensive article on choice on my blog titled, “Choice: the false god of secular ideology,” dated 2/19/2023. It is very long so consider reading it in sections.
A few years ago, Facebook announced that its users could now choose from fifty different genders. It probably includes many more now. The company explained that its goal was to give people a chance to express “your true, authentic self.” But there are not fifty biological sexes. So, what is the assumption? That “your true, authentic self” has nothing to do with your biology. The pomosexual (gender is not a fixed attribute but a free-flowing variable that shifts according to personal preference) view represents a profound devaluation of the body. Pomo is short for postmodern.
This is not a fringe idea. It is mainstream. This is why more and more people when asked what a man is or a woman is, they pause with a hesitant response. They do not know for sure what a woman or a man is. Why? They have bought into the postmodern ideology of gender identity.
You may even hear Christians and evangelical pastors pontificating these false narratives under the banner of “we are called to love everyone,” without a clear biblical critique of the false underlying ideologies.
“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever, they sound like the truth.” – Ephesians 4:14 NLT
“As always young people are the first to pick up on new ideas. It is the concept that your brain can be at war with your body. Young people are absorbing the ideas that the physical body is not part of the authentic self—that the authentic self is only the autonomous choosing self. A 2015 Fusion survey found that the majority of millennials believe gender is fluid. A World magazine article says this idea is liberating, a way to take control of one’s own identity, rather than accepting being male or female.” – p. 196-203
If a child is struggling with their gender identity, parents in particular, ought to help their child channel their inner feelings to match their body, not by complying to the destructive indoctrination or by allowing their child to take hormones and surgery to match their feelings. Please look to pages 216-219 for a redemptive story of a family with a boy who questioned his sexual identity!
An excellent five minute video from Prager U, titled Why Girls Become Boys, by Abigail Shrir, addresses the trend of young girls desiring to identify as boys.
“Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” – Proverbs 22:15 KJV
The Hebrew word for “foolishness” means lacking good sense, good judgment, and unwise.
The Hebrew word for “correction” includes instructions, and corrective discipline with biblical direction!
More parents need to act like adults and engage their child with loving truth.
Every time I participate in a discussion about transgenderism, I bring it back to biology, not psychology.
• “Choice is the key tenet of secularism because, magically, choices make everything morally acceptable.” P. 98
• Paula Johnson says, “Every cell has a sex—and what that means is that men and women are different down to the cellular and molecular level. It means that we’re different across all of our organs, from our brains to our hearts, our lungs our joints. (Paula Johnson, “His and Hers…. Healthcare.” TED talk, December 2013. p.196.
• Princeton ethicist Peter Singer writes, ‘the life of a human organism begins at conception’ but “the life of a person—… [a] being with some level of self-awareness—does not began so early.” (Peter Singer, “The Sanctity of Life,” Foreign Policy, September/October 2005. For Singer, simply being human has no moral significance. And if you think it does, you are guilty of speciesism, defined as an immoral prejudice in favor of your own species (parallel to racism). p. 49
A recent interview between Elon Musk and Tucker Carlson, Larry Page, the cofounder of Google, accused Elon of being “speciesist” when talking about the development of (artificial intelligence). Page and Musk worked together on AI. A very interesting interview indeed.
• A biblical worldview grants value and dignity to our identity as male or female. Gender theology is rooted in creation theology. What God has created has intrinsic value, purpose, and dignity. I did a series of on first 11 Chapters of Genesis because “origins matter.” It essentially all falls on origins. This is why the major attacks on the Bible are on the first three chapters of Genesis. As an aside, people still tell me today they became a follower of Christ during that series.
“So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” – Genesis 1:27 KJV
#2 From Deuteronomy Commentary by Dennis Prager
Intellectual Elites
“Support in free societies for communism, the most genocidal and totalitarian movement in modern history, came disproportionately from secular intellectuals. The same is true for antipathy (deep-seated dislike) from secular intellectuals for America and Israel.” – p. 73 Deuteronomy Commentary
“For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” – 1 Corinthians 3:19 ESV
#3 From Dale Ebel 🙂
Anyone who rejects the Creator will fasten on something in the created order and put it in the place of God as the ultimate reality, the center of their life and worship.
When secular minded people ask, “Do you mean you believe Jesus Christ is the only way to God?”
A wonderful response is YES…
We all are trusting something or someone preparing for death.
I have chosen to trust Christ.
Recently I asked my pagan friend, “What is your ultimate basis of authority?” He responded, “My heart.” ☹ (Jeremiah 17:9)
#4 From A Toxic New Religion, by Scott David Allen and Darrow L. Miller
Words Matter
Words are being redefined right before our eyes!
“… words such as marriage, freedom, love, compassion, and justice—words that are the very foundation stones of Western culture. According to Os Guinness, ‘There has been a subtle shift in the meaning of many Western ideas, so that once-strong Jewish and Christian [words] are now used in different ways that decisively change their meaning.’” P. 94
The redefining of words matters! They have the power to convey truth and help understand reality—or obscure it. Words and language are the basic building blocks of culture. Stripping words of their true meanings turn out to be incredibly destructive.
When I muse over my daily communications with others, I realize that I define terms consistently and correctly. Some examples below:
Words like: Equality/ Equity, Faith, with a capital F/faith; unconditional love/sacrificial love; biblical justice/social justice; the kingdom of God, forgiveness, racism, wokism, white fragility, social construct, the word offense, CTR, the love of God and our love for God, and many more. Once again please remember we are all explainers and teachers of Truth.
This summer I have chosen to add new words to my vocabulary! I am attempting to integrate them in my Bible Studies with others, in my writings and in my routine conversations. This proves to be a challenge.
“The lips of the godly speak helpful words, but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.” – Proverbs 10:32 NLT
#5 From The United States of Socialism, by Dinesh D’Souza
I have read 8 of D’Souza’s books and they have been enlightening and mind stretching. He has exposed me to a myriad of subjects that are impacting our world. His books have proved to be beneficial in talking to many people as I go about my daily tasks. Subjects like the moral justification of capitalism, the six ingredients of Venezuelan socialism, the motivation and outcomes of progressive policies, the importance of entrepreneurs, the failure of the distribution of wealth, and the complexities of election fraud to name only some.
I attempt to read outside of overt biblical books from authors who have a righteous or a moral compass, yet affirm biblical truth. Sometimes they are not even aware they are confirming the Bible☺!
I am reminded of the prisoners of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, who were selected and trained, because of their broad aptitude to learn, in the service of the king.
“youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.” – Daniel 1:4 ESV
I am introduced to approximately 20-25 new words and concepts from each book by D’Souza. As an aside, when I read and come across a word that is new to me, I write “NW” in the margin and look up the word. I am challenged to say the least.
Capitalism and Supply-Side entrepreneurs.
Supply-side economics postulates that economic growth can be most effectively fostered by lowering taxes, decreasing regulations, and allowing free trade. D’Souza provides the strengths of entrepreneurs operating in a capitalist form of government. As you know the world of academia is relentless in destroying capitalism in favor of socialism, all the while benefiting from capitalism, and freedom and success because of our Constitutional Republic. Oh, the irony of foolishness!
On pages 181-205 he lists six characteristics of economic entrepreneurs. I summarized them below in my own words:
1 They start with a big Idea, or a dream.
2 They figure out how to do it, which usually means they get loans from lenders.
3 They virtually take all the risk!
4 They know how to brand and market their idea.
5 They learn how or know how to operate the business to make it succeed.
6. They can identify what the consumer wants or what the consumer will want.
Many of my conversations with people outside of Christ are about economics and it is surprising how much the Bible addresses the world of finances. It behooves us to become equipped with this Biblical understanding.
Getting rich off politics
“There is not a single politician in Norway, Sweden, or Denmark who has gone from zero to $10 million or $200 million—while largely employed in the public sector. But in Venezuela as on the America left, it is quite possible for ‘public servants’ to become very rich. In fact, it is hard to name any prominent figure on the Venezuelan left, as on the American left, who hasn’t profited handsomely from their politics. Apparently, they all came to do good and stayed to do very well.” p. 171
I would add that many republicans in office have made huge amounts of money as “public servants.” Something is not right about all this and most likely more has to do with “bribery” than we think.
“Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens.” – Exodus 18:21 ESV
Have you ever felt like the Psalmist? I sure have!
“So I tried to understand why the wicked prosper. But what a difficult task it is! 17 Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked. … 20 When you arise, O Lord, you will laugh at their silly ideas as a person laughs at dreams in the morning.” – Psalm 73:16-17, 20 NLT
Justice
“Is Justice equality?” Aristotle writes, and then he gives this enigmatic (difficult to interpret or understand) answer: ‘Yes, it is but not for all people, only for those who are equal.’ What does Aristotle mean by this? He means that justice is not a matter of giving someone an equal or unequal share but rather giving everyone what they are actually due. If someone deserves more, it is just to give him more; if someone deserves less it is just to give him less. The question of inequality is subordinate to the question of just deserts.” P. 181
Capitalism when it is free to operate, promotes individual virtue by allowing a person to excel proportioned to their ability if they are willing to take risks, work hard and work wisely. Asians, Indians, Italians, Mexicans, Russians, Ukrainians, and Romanians immigrating to America have proved this and have demonstrated that they can thrive in such an environment. They arrive in America and do not call “wolf” or complain about so-called inequality, they put their nose to the grindstone and work to make a living for themselves and their families. They even send money back home to their relatives. As a result, there is social justice as correctly defined.
For an insightful understanding of “Justice” regarding lex talionis, (the Law of Retaliation) look to the discussion of the “eye for an eye” concept in Exodus 21:22-26 in Prager’s commentary on Exodus. Pages 294-304.
#6 From Fault Lines, by Voddie T. Baucham Jr.
In this superior book, Baucham, insightfully critiques the Social Justice Movement and Critical Race Theory. In Chapter Ten he states:
“My goal in this chapter is not to offer alternative solutions to America’s (or the Church’s) “racial injustice problem.” I don’t believe we have one. I believe there is racism. I believe there are racists, However, reject the idea that America is ‘characterized by racism,’ or that racism is an unavoidable by product of our national DNA. In fact, I believe America is one of the least racist countries in the world.” p. 201
Many of us who are white ought not to buy into the lie that American and therefore we as white people, suffer from “systemic racism.” Where is our confidence? Where is the healthy evaluation and discovery of the real facts? I am not guilty for something my past generations have done immorally or righteously. I am responsible for my own actions, sins, and moral righteous behaviors.
“Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor children for the sins of their parents. Those deserving to die must be put to death for their own crimes.” – Deuteronomy 24:16 NLT
The false system of moral guilt and innocence at the heart of social justice morality makes it incompatible with the “whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), His Word. The Bible teaches that every human being regardless of sex, gender, or skin color is a sinner who needs God’s forgiveness (Romans 3:23). While the consequences of sin may be passed down from one generation to another (Jeremiah 32:18), the guilt of sin is earned individually (Ezekiel 18:20). Though God loves people of every ethnic group (Revelation 7:9), He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), and no one will get a pass from Him based upon membership in any particular group (2 Corinthians 5:10). Please consider looking up the above verses and their context.
In an article on my blog dated February 17, 2021, titled, Soc•ial Jus•tice, I list 35 definitions regarding the Social Justice Movement, and I define #28 systemic power, and #29 systemic racism.
Some concluding thoughts
#1 Consider taking it up a notch in your reading. I have additional books to recommend if you wish to add on to the books I have referenced. Start small, it is not overwhelming.
#2 The challenge for most of us is learning how to integrate what we know into redemptive conversations or endeavors. This is process for me that is based on trial and error. I read something significant to me and I attempt to communicate it out loud to my family or friends first. I learn from these experiences and then branch out carrying the information to the public. Please remember we learn best by doing.
I conclude with one of my favorite verses in Hebrews—
“14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, [that is], those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” – Hebrews 5:14 NKJV
Obeying With You,
Dale