Hundreds of clergy, staff and congregants of the Church of Sweden, Europe’s largest Lutheran denomination, have declared in an open letter that it is now a trans-inclusive institution.
“We write to you from a church that is also trans,” reads a line from the letter, titled “Personal Letter to You Who are Trans,” posted on a dioceses website and addressed to trans-identifying people who serve and attend the church, Summit News reported.
Signed by around 1,000 priests, deacons and members and published on the official website of the Västerås diocese, the letter also seeks to explain how the church could be described as trans.
Sweden’s flag is seen near the Stockholm Cathedral in Gamla Stan or the Old Town district of Stockholm, Sweden, June 9, 2010.
However in 2017, the denomination had already told clergy that they needed to start using gender-neutral language when referring to God, and avoid masculine terms such as “He” and “Lord.” so this letter is not something new. The church had already departed from Biblical values many years ago and are suffering the consequences of that decision. For example, in 2009, the left-leaning Swedish Church voted in favor of blessing same-sex marriages and elected Eva Brunne, the world’s first openly lesbian bishop.
Many of the members have been leaving the religion in record numbers. In 2018, insiders said the denomination was expected to lose over 1 million members over the following 10 years.
Sputnik News at the time translated the official Members in Motion report from the denomination, which found out that 85,848 Swedes left the Church in 2016, followed by 93,093 members in 2017.
The Bible the Lutheran church has rejected prophesies that prior to Jesus return much of the church will fall away and compromise with the world’s values. If only they could see, that by their actions, they are fulfilling this prophecy.
A CBS “60 Minutes” segment highlighting the suffering of individuals harmed by transgender medicalization has raised the ire of LGBT activists and has others believing a shift in the debate over transgenderism is near.
In its coverage about the various bills that have arisen across the country aiming to prohibit the use of experimental drugs and the performing of cosmetic gender surgeries on minors in several states, the Sunday broadcast featured an approximately 7-minute portion featuring detransitioners.
Detransitioners are those who once identified as transgender but now regret their decisions to transition and have begun reintegrating with their biological sex.
Detransitioners speak with journalist Lesley Stahl during an episode of CBS’ “60 minutes.” | Screenshot: CBSNews.com
The segment featured veteran television journalist Lesley Stahl interviewing several young people who had undergone medicalized gender transition procedures. All of them said they were rushed into a decision and affirmed their transgender identities too hastily.
“I didn’t get enough pushback on transitioning. I went for two appointments and after the second one, I had my letter to go get on cross-sex hormones,” said one young man named Garrett from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Stahl responded, with seeming disbelief: “Two visits?”
While repeated assertions abound from transgender activists who argue that gender-dysphoric youth are at higher odds than the general public to commit suicide if not allowed to transition, Garrett said his depression worsened after he had his testicles removed and had surgery on his chest to appear more female.
“I had never really been suicidal before until I had my breast augmentation,” he said. “And about a week afterward, I wanted to actually kill myself. I had a plan and I was going to do it but I just kept thinking about my family to stop myself.”
Another detransitioner, Grace Lidinsky-Smith, chose to go on testosterone and have her breasts amputated during her 20s. She told Stahl how surprised she was at the ease and speed she could alter her body in pursuit of being a male and then revert to her natal sex.
“I can’t believe I transitioned then detransitioned, including hormones and surgery, in the course of like, less than one year,” she said.
Not long after undergoing a double mastectomy, she said that she “started to have a really disturbing sense that, like, a part of my body was missing, almost a ghost limb feeling about being like, there’s something that should be there.”
Following the segment, “60 Minutes” interviewed the president of the prominent pro-LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign, Alphonso David. The activist argued that by highlighting the accounts of detransitioners, “already marginalized” trans-identified people are further harmed.
Despite the broadly sympathetic coverage, transgender activists in the legal, psychiatric and medical fields were upset that detransitioners stories were given airtime in the broadcast. They took to social media to voice their complaints.
This generation is much like Pontius Pilate when He responded to Jesus with “What is truth“, Jesus said He came into the world to bear witness to the truth.
“For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37).
Jesus does not give us the alternative of deciding what may be true for you might not be true for me. “I am the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6) is about as far away from a postmodern statement on truth as you can get.
The only thing worth seeing is the move of God on this earth. God saving souls, making disciples is what counts. Where does this happen? Listen to this message from Mario Murillo about the GLORY OF GOD. Only when people repent and empty themselves of self and live for God will they see the GLORY OF GOD. It happens in the places of supreme darkness where people are at the end of themselves. Watch the video, if your a Christian you will be glad you did. If you are not, I hope the fear of God rises up and repentance follows.
Pakistani politician Moulana Abdul Akbar Chitrali, a member of the National Assembly from the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Party demanded that the Pakistani military declare Jihad against Israel and use its long range missiles, F-17 fighter jets, and atom bomb against it. He made his remarks in a speech that was aired on PTV (Pakistan) on May 17, 2021.
Moulana Chitrali said that Pakistan is the seventh most powerful country, and it should not use its missiles and atom bomb as children’s toys or artifacts in a museum. He continued to say that Jihad is the only way to liberate Kashmir and Palestine.
Muslims wherever they live in Gaza, West Bank within Israel’s borders or elsewhere in the world have one agenda, one goal, Jihad, the annihilation of Israel. Biden’s two state solution is not an option for the Palestinians, nor for their Muslim neighbours. This is a spiritual battle, the outcome of which is known and given to us in God’s Word. Jesus will eventually rule and reign the nations for 1000 years from a restored Jerusalem/Israel.
THE THOUSAND YEARS
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” REVELATION 20:1-6
Many Americans witnessing the recent bloodshed in Israel are perplexed by how quickly violence erupted after years of calm. Mike Pence former VP provided the answer: President Biden and congressional Democrats have abandoned unambiguous support for Israel, which has emboldened Hamas and Arabs living in Israel. In fact, they have turned back policies that yielded historic peace deals in the Middle East.
As well International security analyst Martin Himel reported on the wave of anti-Semitic attacks in the U.S. and Europe saying anti-Semites have been emboldened by the Israel-Hamas conflict and the Arab insurgency within Israel.
In this excellent short video, Pence makes many of the points I made in my recent LEN post “IS THIS THE END OF JEWISH/ARAB COEXISTENCE IN ISRAEL?” If you have not seen it can I suggest you take a look after you have watched this video by Mike Pence. I believe the recent events signal “a significant watershed event” in Biblical prophecy.
An important video from Dr Christopher Yuan on sexual orientation.
You’re in a conversation and someone says, “People can’t help being gay. It’s part of their genetic makeup.” What would you say?
Today, the search has shifted to whether or not there is any genetic component to one’s sexual orientation, and if there is, what kind of role does it play in determining who we are sexually attracted to? Still, people will often assume that there must be a genetic source for sexual orientation and will talk about it as if it is settled science. But it’s not. So, the next time you’re in a conversation and someone says being gay is genetic, here are three things to remember:
First, genetics only play a small role in determining sexual orientation.
Second, genetics cannot predict whether a person is gay or straight.
Third, sexuality is not WHO you are, it’s HOW you are.
“And they have conquered him (The Accuser/Satan) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Revelation 12:11
Brian Tetsuro Ivie
Young Christian filmmaker Brian Tetsuro Ivie says Christians are losing relevancy in modern-day society for not speaking to people’s spiritual and physical needs as Jesus did. To change that, Ivie has teamed up with NBA all-star Steph Curry to create films with original content that will inspire Christians to do both.
Ivie’s testimony is inspiring and is typical of how God works with His new children:
“When I became a Christian, I thought I was gonna leave the film industry entirely because I figured once you became a Christian, you had to go to Africa, or you had to give up all of your dreams,” Ivie told The Christian Post in a recent interview. “I think, in some ways, that was good because it taught me how to just walk with God and not look at my career as something that was going to ultimately fulfill me because it’s not.”
At the beginning of his faith walk, Ivie took part in philanthropy and social work for a few years, a season he pegged as a “desert.” He worked in South Korea and other parts of the world, which is how his film “The Drop Box” came about. The movie, made in partnership with Focus on the Family, told the story of South Korean Pastor Lee Jong-rak, who, after gaining a reputation for his willingness to care for disabled children, built a box into his home’s wall because he did not want any babies to be discarded and left for dead.
Years later, Ivie was asked to make “Emanuel,” which tells the story of the 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina. It was then that he and Steph Curry became acquainted, and soon after, Curry joined the film as an executive producer.
So when the famous athlete thought about launching his own production company, he brought in Ivie to help create the faith content that would be overtly Christian and inspiring to viewers.
“It felt like it was the realization of the dream — the new dream and the new vision God had put into my heart when I became a Christian. It felt like the moment where the old dream and the new dream came together. And it felt like, ‘OK, this is God’s plan for my life,’” Ivie said.
Another video, extremely valuable and relevant for today from Martyn Isles of the Australian Christian Lobby. You need to first watch it and then you will be inspired to share this video with as many others as you can. using every means available to you.
There are two presentations the first is Defying Governments – Submission versus Resistance and the second is How to Live and Die Well – Exposing the lie of Euthanasia. Both are very relevant for Australians right now because we are facing more legislation on abortion and euthanasia but they are both relevant to most other nations so worth posting on LEN.
Those who live well in the Lord, die well in the Lord.
The classic story of “Cinderella” is getting a “modern makeover” as a musical complete with the LGBTQ injection of a genderless fairy godmother.
Entertainment Weekly (EW) reports Camilla Cabello will make her big-screen debut in the title role, and actor-activist Billy Porter will portray her fairy godmother.
Kay Cannon, the movie’s writer-director told EW she wrote the role specifically for Porter. His fairy godmother role is described by Cannon as a supernatural being who stands for being true to oneself, and who transcends mundane human labels.
“Billy articulated the idea that magic has no gender,” Cannon said.
This unusual new version of Cinderella will stream on Amazon Prime in September, according to EW.
As CBN’s Faithwire reported last year, Hollywood elites claim to be pro-feminism, but this new film sure makes it clear sexism is alive and well in Tinseltown.
Porter called the movie “a classic fairytale for a new generation,” during an interview at the time with CBS News.
“It hit me when I was on the set last week, how profound it is that I am playing the Fairy Godmother — they call it the ‘Fab G,’” he said. “We are presenting this character as genderless — at least that’s how I’m playing it, and it’s really powerful.”
Porter, the man known for his “gender-bending” outfits at award shows (he often wears dresses), has made headlines for rebuking sexism and misogyny, but not in the way you might think. While there is plenty of sex-based discrimination against women in Hollywood and elsewhere, Porter is busy decrying how he — as a male — is the victim of misogyny because people think it’s weird he wears bodices and elegant dresses flowing with tulle on the red carpet.
He talked about it on ABC’s “The View” last summer, where he got a little help from co-host Joy Behar who opined with Porter that the reason people are uncomfortable with men wearing dresses is that they “hate women.”
ANALYSIS: THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
In reality, it’s something more profound than that. Certainly, there are some who still carry with them misogynistic perspectives. But the reality is this: people are uncomfortable with the undoing of the sexes as God intended them — male and female. The erasure of that binary is a rebellion against God’s design, and whether Christian or not, the breakdown of that structure is worrisome because the continuation of humanity quite literally depends on it.
“I think the new generation is really ready,” Porter said of his role in “Cinderella” and of the push toward “gender fluidity.” “The kids are ready. It’s the grownups that are slowing stuff down.”
Writing for Faithwire, Tré Goins-Phillips noted: “It’s pretty ironic to think the progressive Hollywood left — the cadre of people keen on equity between men and women — are giddy overturning a historically powerful female role into a ‘genderless’ part and handing it to a male.”
“The sad irony is what Porter himself proves about this push to suppress the male and female binary: in the end, it only suppresses women more,” he wrote. Meanwhile, Porter is also breaking some other new ground. He just announced he’s been HIV positive for 14 years and that he’s tired of the “stigma” surrounding the disease.
We are living in a world where this Scripture is prophetic of the godless world we see playing out before us.
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:28).
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” — MATTHEW 5:17-20
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?
In the Old Testament, the law has three dimensions: ceremonial, civil, and moral.
ONE: Ceremonial Law
The ceremonial law related specifically to Israel’s worship (see Lev 1:2-3, for example). Its primary purpose was to point forward to Jesus Christ; these laws, therefore, were no longer necessary after Jesus’ death and resurrection. While ceremonial law no longer binds us, the principles behind them—to worship and love a holy God—still apply. The Pharisees often accused Jesus of violating ceremonial law.
TWO: Civil Law
The civil law applied to daily living in Israel (see Deut 24:10-11, for example). Because modern society and culture are so radically different from that time and setting, all of these guidelines cannot be followed specifically. But the principles behind the commands are timeless and should guide our conduct. Jesus demonstrated these principles by example.
THREE: Moral Law
The moral law (such as theTen Commandments) is the direct command of God, and it requires strict obedience (see Exod 20:13, for example). The moral law reveals the nature and will of God, and it still applies today. Jesus obeyed the moral law completely.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL
God gave His laws to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel’s history, however, these laws had often been misquoted and misapplied. By Jesus’ time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules. When Jesus talked about a new way to understand God’s law, he was actually trying to bring people back to its original purpose. Jesus did not speak against the law itself but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected.. “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made him known.” John 1:17-18
HEART CHANGENEEDED
The Pharisees were exacting and scrupulous in their attempts to follow their laws. So how could Jesus reasonably call us to greater righteousness than theirs? The Pharisees’ weakness was that they were content to obey the laws outwardly without allowing God to change their hearts (or attitudes). They looked pious, but they were far from the Kingdom of Heaven. God judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the heart that our real allegiance lies.
Jesus was saying that his listeners needed a different kind of righteousness altogether (out of love for God), not just a more intense version of the Pharisees’ obedience (which was mere legal compliance). Our righteousness must
(1) come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves,
(2) be God-centered, not self-centered,
(3) be based on reverence for God, not approval from people,
(4) go beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law. We should be just as concerned about our attitudes that people don’t see as about our actions that they do see.
This content came directly from the Chronological Life Application Study Bible! Get this resource today to read through the Bible in chronological order, it will give you a fresh take on your Bible study.
