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Are We God’s Children, Or His Puppets?

Most Christians have heard the verse from Psalm 139 that says “You knitted me together in the womb”. Some Christians believe that to be literal, in that God actually, specifically and intentionally created your unique body and everything about you exactly as you are.

It’s a nice thought—that God took the time out of His busy day every day, every second for nine months to make sure you met your individual and perfect specifications when you left the womb.

But you didn’t, did you.

None of us did.

So what happened? The Bible says God knitted us together in the womb, he intended us to come out exactly as we did. Well, maybe not. Let’s look at that verse again and a few that follow…

It’s a nice thought—that God took the time out of His busy day every day, every second for nine months to make sure you met your individual and perfect specifications when you left the womb.

Psalm 139:13-16 says this: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.”

As you read it you read our frame was not HIDDEN from Him, that He SAW our unformed substance, that He already KNEW the days that were before us. Those words imply a passive role, in that He was well aware of us from the beginning, and as a loving God cared about us from the very beginning. But he didn’t micromanage nor interfere in our formation, just as he doesn’t micromanage or interfere in our daily life.

If this bothers you, let me ask you a few questions… Why did God tell Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He created everything in Heaven and Earth, and He created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God didn’t have to create the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He could have left that one, singular thing out and everything literally would have been PERFECT and the opportunity to choose to disobey would have never existed! But He didn’t leave it out. God included the tree because for us to be able to show God that we truly love Him, we needed to be able to CHOOSE to love Him. Love isn’t love unless we choose to love. Ask any married couple. Infatuation and physical attraction may have brought a couple together, but after 20, 30, 40 years? Love is a choice. It’s a decision you make.

So since we chose wrong in the garden, we allowed sin and the imperfection that comes with it into our existence. That imperfection was evident in the very second generation of humanity. In the first two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, we see what sin has done. It lead to jealousy and murder—in ONE generation!

Now I don’t know what race Adam and Eve were when God created them, but look at the wonderful variety we have on Earth now. Look at the various skin tones, hair colors, physical characteristics like shape of our eyes, or how tall (or not) we are, freckles, etc.

So how did all these variations come into being? Whether you want to call it evolution, divine design in our DNA or anything else, the fact is that none of us are made in the perfection that God intended when Adam and Eve were created.

When a baby is born without arms and legs, did God weave it to be so? When a child in the womb is so malformed that it doesn’t survive being born, was that God’s design? Was that part of His perfect plan?

My spiritual mom’s first child died from SIDS at only 4 months old. Did God take her? Did He decide that the baby’s time on Earth was over? When someone dies from being shot by a gun, did God pull the trigger? Did he put the victim there on purpose so that they would be killed?

I know I’m being dramatic, but I’m trying to make a point.

I hope at this point you would agree that God doesn’t DESIGN babies to die at birth, be born without limbs, even have people develop diseases like cancer and Parkinson’s later in life. And yet it happens. It happens because our world is filled with flaws and imperfection since Adam and Eve enjoyed a piece of fruit.

Everyone I know who is transgender has KNOWN that their identity didn’t match their bodies for as long as they can remember. I certainly know it’s true for me. Likewise everyone I know who is transgender didn’t CHOOSE to be transgender. I know people who are under unbearable stress because they are transgender, they KNOW they are the gender that doesn’t match their body, yet because they are married and have children are trying to find a way to make life work, when there is no door that makes everyone involved happy. Anyone who would say “well you just have to live with it” is speaking from the greatest level of ignorance there is.

Being transgender often (and I’ll add VERY often) gets mixed with homosexuality which for many Christians is a problem (a problem that I think has holes in it, but that’s not what I’m talking about here).

Being transgender is not about sleeping with someone, it’s not about having sex with someone. It’s about integrity. The integrity of knowing who you are, how you are wired and how you are best able to relate to the world we all live in. It’s not about your genitals, it’s about your brain. I promise you once a person who is transgender makes the decision to transition and live as the gender they are wired to be, many find themselves wondering “am I now gay since I still love the same person before I transitioned?” Life gets incredibly complicated when you are transgender.

The most often response I get from well-meaning but incredibly ignorant Christians is to ask God to “heal” them. Some Christians will go so far to say if you’re transgender you couldn’t possibly be a Christian, so you need to turn your life over to Christ to “overcome” Satan’s hold on you.

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t complicated, isn’t filled with a lot of rules.

Many Christians think your ACTIONS, how you live determines if you’re a Christian. But Jesus (you remember Him) said ALL people will know that you are my disciples, if you have LOVE for one another”. And that’s where my well-meaning Christians will say I love you, but your life says you’re not a Christian, when they really don’t KNOW the life they are talking about.

When it comes down to what it is to be a Christian, we have this to go by… In Acts 16 the Apostle Paul was asked by his jailer “what must we do to be saved?”. Paul’s response was “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ”. That sounds pretty simple. When Jesus was hanging on the cross with two criminals, one of them realizing who Jesus was asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered His kingdom, and Jesus said “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23)

Being a follower of Jesus isn’t complicated, isn’t filled with a lot of rules. In many ways today’s church has become like the Israel of the Old Testament and feels like it has to follow a long list of rules to be “approved” by our Lord in Heaven.

Being transgender is well, just another one of those odd things that happen at birth that we can’t explain, along with the plethora of other things that happen that we still can’t explain. But many, and I mean MANY who are transgender love the Lord with all their heart, all their soul and all their mind (Matthew 22:37). They nor I can change the fact that we’re transgender, and as Christians we seek fellowship with other Christians.

It’s so disappointing and so sad that so many churches are okay with putting up barriers for those who are transgender. Some of those barriers are block walls, saying “you’re not welcome here, don’t come in and never come back”. Others are “as long as we don’t know, you’re welcome here”. Then there are those that welcome you knowing you are transgender, allow you to contribute and be a part of the church… up to a point. But because you’re transgender, and without explanation, you’re not given a place to grow as they would want everyone else who isn’t transgender to grow.

God is not a puppet master that dictates every facet of our existence. Each of us is who we are based on a complex mix of DNA, circumstances in the womb and events throughout our lives that make us who we are today.

To assume someone else’s imperfection despite their claiming Christ is to think God has a checklist, and your checklist of bad marks passes and theirs doesn’t, means you’ve totally missed the entire reason Christ died for you and me. And I feel sorry for you and I only hope you’re not teaching others to think like you.

-Blessings

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What? Boys in Girl’s Sports?

Go ahead, call me transphobic. But wait. How could I be, being transgender, having transitioned and then having surgery, how could I possibly be transphobic? Well, I’m not. But anyone who isn’t transgender who writes what I’m about to write would be called that, because the reason doesn’t matter, if you disagree in any way, about anything having to do with someone who is transgender, that automatically makes you transphobic and a hater in the cancel culture we currently live in.

If you’re against ILLEGAL immigration (the key word being illegal) from Mexico and other Central American countries, then you are quickly called racist, when in fact some of those “racists” are immigrants who actually came to the country LEGALLY, and just like others who oppose it and are against those who break the law to sneak into the country when there is a proper way to do it. The term “wetback”, a derogatory term toward illegal immigrants was actually used by Cesar Chavez, a LEGAL immigrant. But I digress.

This is about trans girls (born male just to be clear) competing in girls athletics.

This isn’t about illegal immigration, and I don’t think I’ve ever posted here on my web page about politics before, but I think it’s worth giving my thoughts (and you are very welcome to take it or leave it, no judgement here). But I do think it’s important for those who are following me to know that you don’t have to follow certain policies 100% regarding transgender issues just because you’re transgender. Being transgender doesn’t automatically make you a conservative or a liberal, a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent. I know many who are transgender and trust me, the full political spectrum is covered just by the folks I know.

This is about trans girls (born male just to be clear) competing in girls athletics.

This has been an issue for a few years now and is in the news more than ever.

Because someone is transgender, that doesn’t mean that the whole world has to suddenly bend backwards to make life easy. Frankly, being transgender is a form of a disability if it’s anything, and yes, we either learn to deal with it (some better than others) or as so many have done, they kill themselves out of a sense of hopelessness and loneliness. And if we’re able to deal with it, it doesn’t have to be all that hard, but that doesn’t automatically mean that because we’re transgender (poor us), that we can impose what we want on others because it makes us feel better.

I feel sorry for ANYONE who is transgender. It’s not an easy life

Transgender girls almost universally have a physical advantage over genetic girls in most sports. The entire reason boy’s and men’s sports are separated from girl’s and women’s sports is because of the physical differences, and I’m not talking about their genitalia. I’m talking about the FACT that being born male and having gone through puberty genetic males are likely to be 5’9”, genetic females more like 5’4”. Both those numbers seem low to me, but I’m 6’3” so what do I know? Almost everyone is shorter than me! Right there you can see advantages in sports like basketball, baseball (or softball), volleyball, boxing, tennis, even rowing. Genetic males have more upper body strength and more muscle mass.

You may have heard of what’s called “Title IX” (Title Nine). It became law in 1972 to stop preventing girls from belonging to athletic programs simply because they were girls. Hence a whole slew of girls’ sports were spawned. Now we have women’s basketball (and at a professional level at that) along with soccer, volleyball and a slew of other sports. The entire reason for that is because genetic females with VERY FEW exceptions can’t compete in many sports at the level genetic males can.

Let’s start in Connecticut…

There currently is a case now at the appellate level. 3 girls (and their families) filed suit against the state saying that allowing biological males to compete wasn’t fair and violated Title IX. The suit was filed a year ago (too late to actually help the girls in high school) because since 2017, two trans girls had won 15 state championship titles (that were previously held by NINE different girls). The girls opportunity for a scholarship in college was certainly hurt by their inability to compete with the trans girls.

I wish there was a simple solution, so that transgender athletes had a place to go.

Now let’s go to weightlifting. Laurel Hubbard set 4 national records in New Zealand as a transgender woman, beating the second place person in one competition by lifting 40  pounds more than the next closest competitor.

Is it hateful? Is it unloving? No. Is it transphobic to point out that biological males are physically bigger than females? No, just an undeniable observation. In an effort to be politically correct, many athletic associations have said if the athlete has been on hormones for a year, then that’s good enough. News flash! I’ve been on hormones for over 30 years and I’m not one inch shorter. I may not be quite as strong as I use to be, but I’m not as young either.

Look, I feel sorry for ANYONE who is transgender. It’s not an easy life. Being transgender adds a complication to your life that most people can’t begin to comprehend. But that doesn’t mean you get to do anything you want, including compete in girls athletics just because you did it as a male. I see that as one of the trade-offs you make when you transition. You have to accept the circumstance you’ve been dealt.

Sometimes we have to make choices. When it comes to transgender athletes, it may come down to what is more important at the time, transitioning or competing? Competing now and transitioning later is ALWAYS an option, unless the person is suicidal, in which case I’d say transitioning and living without competing is the better option.

People get all kinds of disabilities and overcome them, there was the Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius from South Africa. He had both legs amputated as an infant, yet with prosthetics he became an Olympic athlete. His “blades” (which where his lower legs) may or may not have given him an advantage, the Olympics allowed it so I had to figure they vetted it. But the different between male and female anatomy isn’t so hard to figure out.

It is extremely rare that a genetic female competes in a men’s sport.

Recently there was a female kicker on the Vanderbilt University men’s football team. Both of their regular kickers were out and she was a goalie on the women’s soccer team (and being 6’2” didn’t hurt either). But she’s not the regular, she’s the third choice they had when they needed someone in a pinch. She did a great job, but she is the RARE exception. No one is thinking she is NFL quality, no one is even thinking she’s on the team next year.

Because it’s doubtful the average 5’4” trans guy is going to make it at an athletic level with guys a foot taller and 100+ more pounds in most sports, I’m keeping my comments directed to the trans girls issue.

It’s not “transphobic” to use common sense that genetic males shouldn’t compete in physical sports intended for genetic females. I honestly feel bad for the trans girls, competing is what they love to do—it brings them joy. But it would be more fair for them to continue to compete with the boys (just like the Vanderbilt kicker) than for them to compete with the girls. Yes, if they’re taking female hormones, that will over time reduce their muscle mass, but they will always have more than a genetic female.

I would never begin to question the genuineness of someone who says they are transgender.

I made the final table in the World Series of Poker Women’s World Championship in 2006. But I like to think that the genetic male brain isn’t smarter than the genetic female brain, so we were pretty much on equal footing, and considering this was the first time I had ever played in an actual casino and not online, I felt I was at a disadvantage. I like to think I’m just a good poker player since there is no physical advantage between men and women in poker—we all put our butts in a chair at the table.

I wish there was a simple solution, so that transgender athletes had a place to go. Perhaps sometime it will get figured out in a fair way and there will be, but to allow them to compete with genetic females erases the opportunity that genetic females should have had, that the government’s Title IX was intended to protect.

Unchecked, then eventually the WNBA, the U.S. Olympic volleyball team and other currently female sports will be dominated with trans women. I’m sorry, but then what are genetically born females supposed to do? Do we start a new league just for them, only to be filled with trans women not good enough for the higher level?

I would never begin to question the genuineness of someone who says they are transgender. I AM transgender, so I KNOW it’s a real thing and only alive today because I chose to transition 30 years ago. But that doesn’t mean I have the right to compete in an area that was carved out for females BECAUSE it’s what I want.

Physical differences doesn’t make one sex better or worse than the other, simply different. Frankly, if you’ve never watched college women’s volleyball at a high level (like University of Texas or Stanford) it’s pretty incredible. I’d hate to see any of those amazing girls cut because a trans girl took their place. I have friends who were fast pitch softball players and I imagine they would have hated it too if a tall and stronger trans girl took their place on the team.

We have to be reasonable people, all of us. We have to accept that not everyone can have everything they want all the time, and giving a fraction of a percentage of people a place only to upset a large group of people and hurt other worthy people who have worked hard to be where they are is wrong if you ask me. Frankly, I call it pandering and political, not rational.

-Blessings

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The Sin of Not Being Like You

Wouldn’t the world be such a better place if everyone were like you? I mean, if you think secular movies are bad for our culture, is it a sin if Christians go see them? And secular music. Music that doesn’t point to the Lord. Is it a sin if Christians listen to it? What about dancing? Many Christians think dancing is a sin, maybe you’re one of them. So you would condemn Christians who go to a nightclub and dance? If dancing is sinful, is it a sin to go watch a ballet? I mean, you’re not actually the one doing the dancing are you? Read more “The Sin of Not Being Like You” →

The Book is 2 Years Old, and FREE this…

Two years ago this week “God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” was published. Since then in addition to the copies sold, I’ve given away over 2,200 copies.

Starting Tuesday at midnight (PDT) through Saturday night, the Kindle/eBook version is free at Amazon, the price is $0.00. No sales tax, no waiting—you get it immediately.

-Blessings

Please click here to “LIKE” my Facebook page, help me reach the Church and Christians who are transgender.

“God Doesn’t Make Mistakes” now available
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A Simple Conversation – It’s Not Hard

Today I had a wonderful conversation. It was with the father of a gay daughter. If you’ve been following my posts, back in May I wrote about leaving my church, and though none of the pastors of my church ever contacted me, this gentleman (an elder at the church), at the request of the senior pastor did reach out—even though at that time he knew virtually nothing about me. Read more “A Simple Conversation – It’s Not Hard” →

I’m Sorry Church, But I’m Angry!

I’m angry because people are hurting and you don’t seem to care. I’m angry because you’re afraid to speak up for those who love Jesus but are different than you. I’m angry because “fitting in” and having your nice group of friends at church is more important than calling out those around you, even the leaders of your church for not embracing those who seek community with you. Read more “I’m Sorry Church, But I’m Angry!” →

The Fear of Understanding

One of the pastors at my old church, Dr. Octavious Bishop, posted this on Facebook today: “We must care-less, what people think of us. That’s none of our business. But, how we are perceived may begin the incredibly humbling process of understanding.”

The word “may” in the last sentence is important. That’s because how you’re perceived may NOT begin that process of understanding, and much of that depends on the person doing the perceiving. And it has nothing to do with you. Read more “The Fear of Understanding” →

Unconditional Love, Unconditional Acceptance (Not so easy)

Is there a difference? Should there be?

It seems so simple.

If you love unconditionally, you must therefore be accepting unconditionally. Yet just like those sushi artists that make those paper thin slices of fish, we Christians have found a way to make a VERY thin slice between unconditional love and unconditional acceptance. The key word being UNCONDITIONAL. Read more “Unconditional Love, Unconditional Acceptance (Not so easy)” →

Hate, Sorrow, Love and Joy

A week ago I posted an open letter to the pastors of my church on Facebook, why it was important to make room there for those who are LGBT and as a result of their silence, why I decided to leave. In the days that followed there were some comments and emails and I’d like to follow up with a couple of things: 1) God is faithful and 2) fear doesn’t equal hate. Read more “Hate, Sorrow, Love and Joy” →

It’s Worse Than Coronavirus

This post started with me writing about how disappointed I was in my fellow Americans. How so many have succumbed to the fear of a virus that is not Ebola (with a 90% fatality rate), hemorrhagic fever (24-88% fatality rate) or even MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome at 41%). Our country saw Ebola on our own shore in 2014 and as deadly as it is we didn’t all suddenly duck and cover. 100,000 people died of MERS in the U.S. and million worldwide in 1969 and we still held Woodstock! Read more “It’s Worse Than Coronavirus” →