Walking With Jesus

Many Flavors At God’s Place

*Being the 1^st of the Month I’m featuring this helpful devotion by Ron Hutchcraft. It’s so applicable to where we are in the Body of Christ. Please read slowly and let its truth sink in. Blessings, Ed 😊

Now, I’m not in the business of advertising any particular ice cream spot, but let’s face it, it’s kind of fun to go to Baskin Robbins. You know, they have all those flavors they advertise. Now, you can write to me and tell me that maybe you like another place better, but listen, I know you like to go where there’s a lot of flavors. And you know what? It seems like it takes me an hour to decide which one I want. Well, not really, but seems like an hour to the person who’s waiting on me. But the variety is a lot of fun.

Now, can you imagine an ice cream store that offered only vanilla? Yeah, boring! After a while you get tired of the same old flavor. Can you imagine a person who said, “I only eat vanilla. I never tried anything else.” I’d say to them, “Man, look at the list! You’re missing so many flavors. You can have ice cream so many different ways.” How boring to think that all ice cream has to be the one flavor you like.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Many Flavors At God’s Place.”

Our word for today from the Word of God is found in 1 Corinthians 12. And we go, in a sense, to God’s ice cream parlor if you want to put it that way. And it’s called the church – the body of Christ. Listen to all the flavors. “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.” Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 12: “The body is a unit, though, that is made up of many parts, and though all of its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”

Okay, now, if there’s one message we could get from these wonderful verses it would be this. Variety is God’s plan for His body. He’s not interested in cookie cutter Christians. He wants many styles, many flavors of Christians. God likes variety. Guess what we like? Uniformity. We want everybody to be like us – like our group. So as a consequence, generally speaking, Baptist Christians only know Baptist Christians, and Assembly of God Christians only know Assembly of God Christians, and Methodist Christians only know Methodist Christians, and Presbyterian, Presbyterians, etc. The list is infinite.

But, you see, none of us has all of Him. But all of us together have all of Him. Don’t cut yourself off from all the other flavors; don’t just be a vanilla Christian. See, we disagree only about, say, 10% of it. Ninety percent is about Christ, and sin, and salvation, and Christ’s return, and the Bible: we tend to agree on those. We need each other. Those different styles and different emphases in the body of Christ are not only God’s will, but they make you rich.

One group of Christians may teach you how to pray and get a hold of God. Another group may really have a vision for missions, and they’ll help you care about a lost world. Others will really get you into personal evangelism. There’s another group of Christians who might really help you learn about God’s sovereign control over things. And then there’s a group over there that may be strong in loving and caring and accepting. And this group over here, they’ll teach you a lot about worship. And this one, oh you’ll learn a lot about careful Bible study. Hey, listen. We will be together forever. All the labels we have here on earth won’t make it past the gate of heaven. Why don’t we get together now?

You’re on God’s side when you’re against whatever divides His body. It’s not all vanilla. It’s lots of flavors. It’s all ice cream; but it’s lots of flavors, and that’s what counts. We’re all the church.

So, celebrate the variety in God’s family. And enjoy all those flavors.

Are You Open?

“But while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with Him to the marriage feast, and the door was locked. Later, when the other five bridesmaids returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’ But He called back, ‘Believe Me, I don’t know you!’ So, you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.” (Matthew 25:10-13 NLT)

The above verses are perhaps the most frightening verses in the Bible, yet the majority of people walking the pathways of planet earth today have no clue who Jesus is, let alone that they have a responsibility to open their heart and life to Him. And here’s the tragedy, not simply that they’re lost, without a Savior, and without hope of eternal life, they have friends and loved ones who know Jesus who believe by some mysterious act of God, their faithfulness to Jesus will somehow translate into salvation for their lost friends and loved ones.

Yes, of course, it’s vital that we live faithful, pure, and consistent godly lives before our loved ones, and those in our spheres of influence, but our faith alone will never be adequate for the salvation of another person. No one comes to Christ by osmosis. They, as we, must open their heart and life to the Lord, individually, by personal decision. But therein lies the problem. Most of them have no clue as to how to do that. If they knew and truly had the desire, it would already have happened.

They may view our lives with respect and admiration, even perhaps a bit of envy that we seem to have a life that they would like to have, but they don’t understand what it is, let alone know how to have it. Yet they’re reluctant to ask us how to have the life we’ve come to take for granted. What’s the answer? We must respond by being open in three specific ways.

Ron Hutchcraft shared these three “open” statements that were just too good not to pass on to you. They’re what Ron calls his three “open” prayers. First, ask the Lord to “open a door.” That simply means, ask the Lord to open a door of opportunity to share the life that is within you as a child of God with someone in your spheres of influence.

Paul writes in Colossians 1:25-27: “God has given me the responsibility of serving His church by proclaiming, His entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing His glory.” What’s Paul saying? To know Christ is to share in the responsibility of sharing Him with others. So, the first step is asking the Lord to open a door of opportunity to share Him with someone.

The second step is asking the Lord to “open their heart” to Him. It’s pointless to share if the Lord is not working in the other person’s life, and He won’t work where He’s not invited. Without believing prayer, the Spirit has no invitation to stir another person’s heart to even listen to what we have to say.

Then, lastly, ask the Lord to “Open MY heart!” As much as we might want to share, feel we have an important message to share and even a desire to share it, without the Spirit’s leading we’ll fall flat on our face. Sharing our faith in the Lord Jesus is a faith venture that depends completely on the Holy Spirit from start to finish. Perhaps you’ve never fully understood that it’s your responsibility as a believer in Jesus to share, or you’ve known you should, but haven’t understood how to do it.

Just use this simple guide to let the Spirit empower you to obey the Lord and trust Him every step as you share what the Lord has done and is doing in your life, and what He can do in theirs. You don’t have to be a Theologian to say: “Before I met Christ my life was like this… This is how I came to know Him… And this is how my life has changed since inviting Him to become the Lord of my life.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

God’s Calling

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT)

The Prophet Isaiah, from which Paul’s quote is taken, said: “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like You, who works for those who wait for Him!”

Calling must grow out of our understanding of the One who calls us. To misunderstand who God is, is to misunderstand that to which He calls us. The Bible is clear in giving us understanding that every child of God is called to be like Jesus, but how do I know that? Because Paul makes it clear in Romans 8:29 when he writes: “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory.”

“Reflect the Son” “Used by permission, © Ray Majoran, GlimpseOfInfinity.com”

Calling grows out of our relationship with God made possible through placing our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He personally chose us to have right standing with Himself, that we might reflect His glory in how we live our lives. The specific role that calling will take depends on several things. The Bible says God knew us in advance, obviously pointing to the fact He designed and created us. So? Doesn’t it stand to reason that if I design something, I’d have its intended use in mind?

God gave each of us specific gifts and abilities. He made us tall or short, large or small, extremely intelligent or not so much; extremely talented or very average; personable or rough around the proverbial “edges.” No two of us are exactly alike and that’s by specific design. He has a unique role for each of us to play in His Kingdom; thus, a unique calling on each of our lives.

Never seek to pattern your life based on any other person except Jesus. Yes, of course, the Lord puts people in our lives who influence, teach, instruct, and in many ways model for us the ways of God, what it might look like to follow Jesus closely. But our goal is to become the best version of US that we can be in light of who God designed and desires US to be.

My Mentor, James C. Burchett, modeled Jesus in ways that astounded me. He was an excellent preacher and communicator, and he taught me a lot by what he said, but he taught me even more by what he lived. He lived by dependence upon Jesus, loving, serving, sacrificing behind the scenes in ways that few were privileged to see. As a teen I heard Brother Jim preach at a Youth Camp before I had met him or knew who he was. I remember thinking: “If the Lord ever calls me to preach, I want to be like him!”

As God would have it, a few years later the Lord DID call me to preach and did allow me to have a longstanding relationship with Jim, but in my efforts to be like him I almost missed who God intended me to be – ME! I can’t now, nor could I ever have been the communicator Jim Burchett was, but, while many may question this, He’s gifted me as a writer, not a speaker. I’ve never been a great speaker, but the Lord has used the written words He’s given me to communicate in powerful ways.

How has the Lord gifted you? Therein lies your calling! He designed you to be exactly who you are, no one else, fully in love with Him. There are people you can reach that I nor Jim nor anyone else but you can reach, but only as you can. Calling only counts when we channel who God designed us to be into leading those in our spheres of influence to Jesus. Each of us “shares Christ” in a way unique to who the Lord made us, but make no mistake, we’re all called to be in the business of pointing others to Him.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

My “Imaginary” Friend

“Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ He said. Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!’ ‘My Lord and my God!’ Thomas exclaimed” (John 20:26-28 NLT)

For many today the Resurrection of a dead man is very hard to grasp and believe. It was for those who knew Him. Thomas is often singled out as the loan doubter, but Matthew reminds us in Matthew 28:17, after Jesus had been with the disciples and others for forty days, Matthew writes: “Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him – but some of them doubted!” Obviously, they were able to work through their doubt, because each of the doubters ultimately laid down their life in death rather than deny Him. What will it take for you and me to work through our doubt?

A self-proclaimed atheist has responded to some of my articles, so we’ve communicated back and forth a number of times. She has referred to Jesus as my “Imaginary Friend”, so I recently shared with her that I believe my “Imaginary Friend” (her term for Jesus) may have created me for the express intention of allowing me to become her imaginary friend. I asked her how she knew I existed? “You’ve never seen me or even heard my voice. The only way you know I exist is because you’ve read words you believe are from me and based on those things you BELIEVE I exist.” Where is her “proof?” Yet, she wants me to prove Jesus exists, that He lived and is alive today, though He’s more real to me than the air I breathe.

And you may be thinking, “Yes, she could track you down and come to your house.” Maybe, but the reality is, she may find someone who has the same name, but there’s no way to verify I’m the one who has communicated with her unless she has access to my computer. And even then, someone claiming to be me could have communicated with her. Our relationship is based entirely on faith, belief that I exist!One of my last communications said, “I love you, invisible friend, and I hope to see you in heaven one day.” The only way to verify that someone is real is to stand in their literal presence. That’s why Jesus made the effort to allow Thomas to have his doubts removed by allowing him to stand in His literal post-resurrection presence, the same presence in which we will one day be privileged to stand.

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 5:7 that until that day “we live by believing and not by seeing.” Is it hard for you to imagine Jesus lived, died, and rose again to pay the penalty for our sin? Faith is sometimes very hard, but love is real and transformational. I believe, not because I’ve seen the Lord, except with my eye of faith, but because His love has transformed me. His presence is as real to me as the sunshine on my face.

In John 10:27 the Lord said: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me, for My Father has given them to Me, and He is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

My security in Jesus isn’t simply based on the fact I’m in the Father’s hand, my security rests in the fact that I’m in the Father’s heart, and so are you, beloved child of God, if Jesus is your Lord and Savior by faith in His risen life. The truth is, I haven’t seen Him with my physical eyes, but I communicate with Him every day. I hear His voice clearly and He’s as visible to my spiritual eyes as the sunset on a cloudless night.

He’s real! He’s alive! And He loves you! Do you know Him? If you don’t, please open your heart to Him today by tapping on anewstory.com and allowing Ron Hutchcraft to walk you through a simple, easily understandable way to place your faith and trust in our Risen Lord and begin your journey with Him today.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Where Are You Headed? (Part 2)

“But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (John 1:12-13 NLT)

The fact that Jesus lived and died on earth is easily verifiable by non-Biblical sources, thus is irrefutable, but whether someone acknowledges Him as God in human flesh or Lord of Creation are other factors. Regardless of which direction our life is taking, while some of our traveling companions may be chosen for us, as we age, we must decide what we will believe and with whom we will “travel” on our life’s journey.

Often knowing where we’re going isn’t nearly as important as knowing with whom we’re traveling. Whether I’m by myself on a plane, bus, or train full of strangers, or traveling with my wife and pups in our car gives me a completely different frame of reference, in terms of the enjoyment of my trip. Of course, the destination comes to bear on my enjoyment as well. Traveling in and of itself isn’t as much of an issue as why, for what purpose.

If I’m traveling to a funeral or a birth; a wedding or to visit a friend or family member who is going through a divorce or other loss, my attitude as to whether I’m looking forward to the trip or if it is more obligatory also weighs in on things. How we feel about not only who we’re becoming, but our stage in life, in terms of our level of schooling, training and type of work we do, as well as our emotional, mental, and physical makeup can factor into our overall assessment of how we’re responding to the circumstances of our life and what path of faith we will travel. Some, of course, choose non-Christian options or no faith at all in any religion; however, make no mistake, every human being is a person of faith.

To the degree we believe the choices have been made for us or are the result of our independent decisions also comes to bear on whether we’re enjoying or regretting the journey we’re on. For example, if as a child or young adult you felt pressured to believe a certain way, whether it pertained to religious practices or not, that you’ve now come to reject, you’ll always have a shadow of doubt as to whether you made the right choice or were led in the right direction then or are now moving in the right direction.

This can be irrespective of your view of God, whether He exists and loves you or doesn’t exist may not even factor into the journey you’ve embarked upon. Maybe you wake and sleep dependent upon the schedule you have dictated and the thought of God intersecting your life never occurs to you. Blessing or chance are just words people use to explain things they don’t understand, but you’ve chosen to respond to reason and facts. So, how can you ignore the fact of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection?

But therein lies the problem. So many “facts” are arguably “faith” factors and whether you align on the side of Christian Faith, some other religious position, or strictly a secular viewpoint, how mankind arrived on the scene, why we are the way we are in terms of the intricacies of our body and bodily functions, the predictability of the weather and movement of the Sun and Moon, the exact tilt of the earth and speed of our rotation around the Sun must be explained by more than a “chance” occurrence. The evidence of Intelligent Design is irrefutable and must be considered by any thinking person.

The birth and formation of babies, love, laughter, sadness, grief, death, dying, and a thousand other things that all of us have in common cannot be explained by a “Big Bang” or chance. There’s too much order and precision to the way our body functions, the Universes are aligned and the design and construction of even our little planet to doubt very long that there isn’t a God who is behind all that is, especially us, as earth’s inhabitants.

Regardless of where you are on your journey. You may be a 20-something agnostic or an 80-something atheist, you must realize this life is not all there is. You’re going to die and whether you believe you’ll simply return to dust or stand before a holy God to give an account of your life, there are questions you cannot answer regardless of how smart you think you are or how well reasoned you may believe you have become. There is a God-shaped void in your life that cannot be filled by anything but God.

If you’d like to investigate faith in a non-threatening environment, please click on anewstory.com and let Ron Hutchcraft walk you through a brief explanation of what God through His only Son has done for you. Your journey is going to end sooner than you’ve imagined. What happens then is in your hands, but your decision must be made before your journey ends.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Where Are You Headed?

“But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But, it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.” (1 Corinthians 2:8-10 NLT)

Every person on earth is on a journey of faith, leading somewhere. Ultimately, of course, being eternal beings, we will choose by our attitudes, actions, and choices whether we will enjoy eternity with the Lord Jesus or be forever separated from Him. Where are you going? What will you discover along the way? Will your journey ultimately lead to freedom or bondage; celebration or sadness; victory or defeat or some combination of those things. Faith is never in question, the object of our faith is.

Every religious or non-religious conviction, ideology or belief carves out for each of us a lifestyle, a set of beliefs or convictions from which and by which we will live. How are these convictions formulated? By whom or what are we most influenced? What are the implications of the choices we make, our families of origin, our friends, schooling, levels of education, training, employment, life’s experiences?

We’re all products to some extent of our environment, yet, the irony is, two people can experience the exact same environment and respond in completely different ways depending on the source of their faith. Why is that? Might it have something to do with the sensitivity of our spirit to the Spirit of God within us? Problems arise when our spirit seeks other spirits than the Spirit of God for satisfaction.

Perhaps your environment was very knowledge-based and reason-oriented. If it didn’t make sense to you, it wasn’t allowed to register in your spirit. Every human being is created with a body, mind, and soul (spirit), but like a mal-nourished body will deteriorate and not function to full potential, to smother, or deny the spiritual aspect of our being can thwart our soul and prevent full development of our spiritual capacity. Others seek to thrive in non-Christian religious environments.

The beauty of God’s love for us is that He will, upon our request, even at our spirit’s inclination, renew our spirit and regenerate our soul, giving us life from His Spirit that enables the activation of parts of our mind and heart that have laid dormant and undeveloped. Regardless of where we are on our life’s journey, the Holy Spirit of the living God will open our heart and mind to enable us to see and experience things we never knew existed. Often a fresh environment opens the way for this to happen.

What kinds of things? Ordinary occurrences for human beings such as the birth of child, a sickness, a relationship, a change in status like beginning or graduating from High School, College, Post Graduate Studies. Getting our first “real” job, getting a promotion, getting engaged or married, getting divorced or getting fired from a job or demoted from a position. These ups and downs can be exhilarating or crushing to our spirit.

Spiritual things such as a new or renewed awareness of who Jesus is can also play a key role in our spirit’s development. At the birth of Jesus, God poured Himself into human flesh and literally, as John 1:14 explains: “…became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.” Why is that important to know? Because God’s mission in becoming a human being wasn’t to punish us or take His anger out on us, but to express His deep love and affection for us; so much so, the very purpose of Jesus’ coming was to die for us. But why? Because there was no other way for us to know forgiveness for our sin than for the perfect “Lamb of God” to be sacrificed for the payment of our sin. This is all explained in the Bible, but suffice it to say, it exhibits God’s love in an unmistakable way.

Why did we need payment for our sin? Because sin, which is our willful choosing of our way over God’s, is what separates us from God, and the only remedy is the sacrifice of a sinless, spotless “Lamb,” which, as the Bible explains, is the reason Jesus came. He’s not out to get us, except to love, forgive, and fill us with Himself. He’s not angry with us, He delighted in creating us and filling us with the potential we have to become the person He’s designed us to be.

There’s so much more here, let’s continue in tomorrow’s article.

Blessings, Ed 😊

A Life of Substance

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7 NLT)

Substance speaks to the essence of something, the fundamental or essential quality or elements that comprise whatever it is, whether a speech or a life. Considering the above verses, what can we glean from the words of Paul that can guide us in the formation of a life of substance in and for the Lord Jesus?

Notice first, that a life of substance demands accepting“Christ Jesus as your Lord.” What does that mean? What might that look like in practical terms? Think of a wedding between a man and a woman deeply in love and fully committed to one another. There lifelong determination is to grow in their love and devotion to one another “’til death do us part!” That’s what “accepting Jesus as Lord” looks like.

Acceptance here carries with it the weight of responsibility to be accountable as well as devoted to another. Our life is no longer simply about us, it’s about investing our life in the wellbeing of another, and, more specifically, that one whose life we will influence for the Lord. What does that involve? It implies partnership with the Lord in learning, growing, and developing as a child of God. Learning to love others as we love ourselves and Him.

It means becoming a student of the Lord Jesus, but also a student of His holy Word, both of which involve community and co-learning, as well as individual study. A life of substance is never developed in a vacuum, but in the context of a godly community of faith in Jesus. That’s what following Him looks like. Partnering with others to grow in our likeness of Him.

Yes, of course, we follow Him individually in the formation of godly disciplines like prayer, reading and studying Scripture, worship and celebration of who Jesus is and who we are in Him, but it must also include finding a church body that is centered and focused on helping you develop the character you need to be a person of substance for the Lord. And out of that larger body, we must find and be devoted to a smaller group of like-minded Jesus followers who are also determined to grow in their relationship with the Lord. I love how my friend Ray Majoran words it in his beautiful prayer:

“Holy and faithful God, You are the One who establishes what will endure; every lasting good in our lives comes from Your hand. You are righteous in all Your ways, and worthy of our trust and praise. Build us into a people who love what is upright, and who walk in reverent fear before You, because unless You build the house, those who build it labor in vain (Psalm 127:1).

Form in us the kind of hearts that produce a life of substance, so that our words, choices, and relationships rest on the wisdom that comes from You. Help us to be rooted and established in Christ (Colossians 2:6-7). Give us the grace to receive Your Word deeply, like those who hear it and put it into practice, whose house stands firm when the storm comes (Matthew 7:24–25).

May our homes, our witness, and our daily conduct reflect the stability that comes from belonging to You. By the power of Your Spirit, keep us faithful over time — sincere in private, and steadfast in public — so that what we build would honor Your name and remain by Your mercy long after we are gone.”

Food for thought,

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Crumbling Sham of Trans Medicine

By: John Stonestreet and Glenn Stanton

*This timely message from the Colson center needs to be read, understood, and shared broadly, as too many unsuspecting young people are getting swallowed up in this madness. Blessings, Ed 😊

Trans activists loudly claim that medicalizing gender confused youth is “settled science” and saves lives. This is meant to shut down any doubt or debate on this critically important topic.

Thankfully, a few undeterred scholars are asking important questions and demonstrating just how false trans activists’ claims really are.

An impressive new Finnish study, published in the Swedish academic journal Acta Paediatrica, is extending the damning conclusions of the UK’s 2024 Cass Review. The report was unequivocal in concluding that the so-called “settled science” of trans medicine “is an area of remarkably weak evidence” and the “reality is that we have no good evidence on the long-term outcomes of interventions to manage gender-related distress.”

The new Finnish study provides the “good evidence.” Its findings on long-term outcomes, based on extremely strong data sets, don’t bode well for trans activists’ overconfident claims. Finland’s government-run medical system has an extremely rigorous tracking system containing detailed medical and psychiatric records on all citizens dating back to 1994. Drawing from this, the study conducted an analysis of every patient under 23 who attended Finnish gender identity clinics from 1996 to 2019 and compared them with a matched control group.

This means their study population is uniquely comprehensive—it analyzed the entire gender treatment patient population in the country for years and years. Other studies have only included those who chose to take part, seriously undermining the validity of their claims. The Finnish school system also regularly screens students for mental health disorders. It consists of two timeframes: 1996 to 2010, and 2011 to 2019, the time when those “trans identity” numbers started exploding in many countries, likely from social contagion.

So, what did this comprehensive Finnish study find? It’s a pretty direct conclusion: The whole basis of transgender ideology and practice is wrong. As the study revealed, “Gender-referred adolescents showed significantly higher psychiatric morbidity than controls,” and severe psychiatric morbidity increased substantially in two-plus year clinical follow-ups. Those who sought gender services in the second, larger cohort “had greater psychiatric needs than earlier cohorts.”

In fact, these medical researchers state,

Among adolescents who underwent medical gender reassignment, psychiatric morbidity increased markedly during follow-up—rising from 9.8% to 60.7% in feminizing gender reassignment and from 21.6% to 54.5% in masculinizing gender reassignment.

They add,

After adjusting for prior psychiatric treatment, all gender-referred adolescents had similarly elevated risks of psychiatric morbidity, with hazard ratios approximately three times higher than female controls and five times higher than male controls.

These findings directly challenge the assumption that gender transition is a natural, harmless occurrence and that taking sex-rejecting hormones and cutting off healthy body parts benefits patients. In fact, the researchers bluntly confess, “This does not support the suggested improvement in mental health after medical GR [gender reassignment].”

Thus, this research supports previous conclusions that those struggling with gender confusion suffer from other serious parallel psychological comorbidities. A group of Austrian scholars explained in the Archives of Sexual Behavior in 2025 that “gender dysphoric adolescents presenting to specialized gender identity services experience varying degrees of co-occurring mental health problems.”

They note that 71% of such patients suffer from moderate- to high-distress psychopathology (48% and 23% respectively) while only 29% suffer at low-distress levels. Most of these patients (77%) enjoyed high levels of social support in the midst of their struggles, belying another tired line of gay/trans rhetoric.

This Finnish study confirms that gender confused patients aren’t otherwise healthy people simply born in the wrong body, and if we just give them what they say they need, all will be well. Doing so actually appears to make things worse.

The Finnish research team, working from the same stellar population sample, also reported two years ago in the British Medical Journal that the “Main predictor of mortality in this population is psychiatric morbidity, and medical gender reassignment does not have an impact on suicide risk.” The Cass Review came to the same conclusion: “Tragically deaths by suicide in trans people of all ages continue to be above the national average, but there is no evidence that gender-affirmative treatments reduce this.”

The manipulative claims of trans activists continue to crumble, thanks to carefully done science by honest researchers.

The Ultimate Killer (Part 2)

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. ‘I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!’ If you love your father or mother more than you love Me, you are not worthy of being Mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.” (Matthew 10:34-39 NLT)

To me these are some of the most disturbing words of Jesus and can be easily misunderstood if taken out of context. My sense is we can see and understand these verses most clearly in light of what I was seeking to share in yesterday’s article. The ultimate killer of our spiritual life and ultimately our relationship with Jesus isn’t anything or anyone outside ourselves, it’s our perception of the role those things or people play in us getting what we want.

So, the logical question becomes: “What do you or I truly want?” Or, unfortunately, like Judas, “What do we THINK we want?” Judas thought he wanted money. He thought if he could get what he had coming to him, his “fair share”, he’d be happy, but the value of what He gave up was not to be compared and he ultimately understood that. But rather than seek forgiveness, he took matters into his own hands and sent himself into a Christless eternity.

Unfortunately, that’s what millions of would-be Jesus followers are doing to themselves today. We’re choosing ourselves and our wants and desires over our devotion to the Lord Jesus. It’s not that we don’t love Jesus, it’s that He just gets in our way sometimes in getting what WE want. That’s what Jesus was addressing in the verses above.

Sometimes our “goal” as a Jesus follower isn’t to do His will, but to get Him to do our will. We want a spouse, family, job, new house, car, or a thousand other things. What better way to get our way than to “pray about it.” Sounds “spiritual” enough, but what’s out motivation. Ultimately, when we’re honest, those things aren’t desires we believe will bring us closer to Jesus, they’re things that will satisfy us and, we reason, will make us happier.

The fact is, NOTHING! No THING or PERSON can MAKE US HAPPY! Happiness isn’t the result of anything external; it only grows out of our intimacy with Jesus that changes how we see and sense things from the inside out. That’s why so many very wealthy people kill themselves, because ultimately, always getting OUR way is Satan’s plan for our destruction. That’s what Satan was trying to give Jesus when he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world – everything the world had to offer! But, gratefully, the Lord said “NO!” and we must also.

But here’s the irony. We don’t want it “ALL,” we just want what we want, but Satan never satisfies that desire, he only fuels it, so we want more, and more, and more. Until we, like Jesus, come to terms with the devil and settle that in our heart and mind once and for all, we’ll always be constantly seeking for what we’ll only find in Jesus. Until HE IS our ALL-IN-ALL, then, as Judas tragically discovered, nothing of this world will ever satisfy our heart’s desires and our soul’s eternal need.

The ultimate killer of our soul isn’t “out there”, in another person or thing, it’s “in HERE!” It’s in our own heart and mind, it’s what we believe will satisfy our deep longings. But here’s the kicker – we will never fully know what that is until we meet and find our full satisfaction in Jesus. The better we get to know and love Him; the greater measure of intimacy we have with Him, the greater our level of satisfaction in knowing there’s nothing this world can offer that will truly satisfy like knowing, loving, and giving our life in pursuit of serving our Savior Jesus. I don’t need or want my way. I only want what He wants for me. How about you?

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Ultimate Killer

“Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them.” (Luke 22:3 NLT)

Judas’ problem, as ours, isn’t that he didn’t love Jesus, he just loved himself more.

The Lord showed me this in an odd way today when my dogs, whom I love dearly, annoyed me so much by simply doing what dogs do, by barking. And some who have dogs may respond, “But barking dogs DO get annoying.” And I agree, but here’s the truth the Lord is showing me – what makes the difference between letting the dogs do what they do, correcting them or quieting them down, then moving on, or allowing them to annoy me and get under my skin, affecting how I view the rest of my day?

Photo by u0418u0432u0430u043d u0412u0430u0441u044eu0447u043au043eu0432 on Pexels.com

Therein lies the problem that led Judas to allow Satan to lead him into making the most severe misjudgment of anyone’s life EVER – to betray Jesus! Yet, we can fall prey to the same strategy of the enemy multiple times a day. How so? The most significant issue with which we wrestle each day isn’t “what will I do with Jesus?” It’s “what will I do with ME?”

My foul mood wasn’t brought on by the behavior of my dogs; it was brought on by my inappropriate response TO their behavior. Judas didn’t suddenly stop believing in everything he’d heard Jesus teach, he got mad because Jesus made some decisions with which he didn’t agree that made him angry. Why? Because they weren’t the same decisions he would have made or more to the point, that he wished Jesus had made.

Remember Matthew 26:7-9 where Matthew records: “While He (Jesus) was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over His head. The disciples were indignant when they saw this. ‘What a waste!’ they said. ‘It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.’”

Who might you have expected to lead the other disciples in their “indignant” response? How can I be so sure Judas was upset by this? Because three verses later Matthew records Judas went to make arrangements to betray Jesus. He might have thought his indignation was justified, that the money could have legitimately been used to help the poor, and he could have made a reasonable argument that he was right to think that. However, he forgot two very important facts.

First, NOTHING when given with a sincere heart and for the sole purpose of honoring, exalting, and glorifying Jesus is being misappropriated or misspent, not even the giving of our own lives. But secondly, he forgot to get his own greedy heart out of the way before making that judgment. His concern wasn’t for the poor, it was for himself (John 12:6).

How like Judas we become when we allow our own personal preferences to stand in the way of showing genuine love, sympathy, empathy, and concern to those we love. They become as little “building blocks” of resentment that build, not because someone does something specifically against us, it’s that we take it personally because it feels like its against us. Simple things like how we/they load the dishwasher, put the toilet paper on the roller, warm things in the microwave, hang clothes on hangers, how others drive, and a thousand other little things over time build such resentment in us we draw conclusions and make decisions that have become blown way out of proportion, but by then the devil has us and we’re standing on the threshold of denying Christ!

Let’s look at this more closely in tomorrow’s article.

Blessings, Ed 😊