God’s Design has been Redefined

As a counselor I’ve seen over 15,000 people and have my finger on the pulse of the struggle and pain that individuals and families are experiencing. Many marriages and families are under attack, identity is destroyed, destructive emotions control lives, and faulty coping skills are used to survive the soul wounds that cause so much suffering. I look at what is going on through the eyes of a counselor; I see the harm being done through sin patterns in our culture that are harming children, men, women, and their entire family structure.

It is the season and the hour for the church to wake up; you are God’s representatives on the earth. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (1 Corinthians 5:20).

Too many of us are complacent in our busy lives and not aware of what is going on right under our noses until it is too late! God has called us to be stewards, managers of His creation. Can you idly sit by and watch God be kicked out of your society and culture without so much as a whisper against it.

But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, And arise from the dead, And Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, (Ephesians 5:13-15).

God is shaking the church to arise. There are many voices in the church, governmental systems, and even the media that are warning us what is taking place. This nation is positioned for a fall. We have a lengthy record of the consequences of national disobedience that Israel experienced due to her rebellion against God. Don’t just read the Word, apply the principles that God teaches. God is merciful; He wants to bless us and not discipline us if we will only repent.

The good news is that God says, If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, (hence judgment against a rebellious nation) and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2Chrionicles 7:13-14).

What on earth is happening?!!! We are speedily pursuing destruction as a nation founded on God and God principles. These principles are now being eradicated from every avenue of our culture. Our government has removed God from the schools, biblical truth from the public arena, legalized infant sacrifice, redefined marriage, and now calls the thousands of year’s old definition of male and female as discriminatory. God is our Creator, who designed us as male and female and united us in something He called marriage. His statements are being attacked along with all who believe Him.

…In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created (Genesis 5:1-2).

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man (Genesis 2:18, 22).

On Friday, June 26, 2015 the Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage, redefining what God designed, and deeming God Himself as a discriminator. These moral and cultural battles are in full force and began years ago.

The community, in which I live, Jacksonville Florida, is the newest target to legalize LGBT laws that promote rights of one special interest group while discriminating against the rights of others. Like locusts these laws are trying to spread in all communities to restructure our culture against all precepts of faith. Christians, churches, ministries, and society as a whole will have grave consequences if we do not stand up for God and let our voice be heard.

One of the most disturbing things that I have read in research is that your gender is no longer defined by your anatomy and genitally, but by what you emotionally identify with as a unique individual.  That means a transgender who is anatomically male but considers himself female, must legally be allowed and their rights protected, to shower and change in the girls locker room as well as use the woman’s bathroom.

What about the rights of the girls who will be embarrassed, confused, uncomfortable, and traumatized by such and experience? What kind of emotional repercussions will they have? By no means do I want harm to come to the transgender. They should be protected against verbal abuse and bullying. I have worked with many heterosexual children who were bullied and no special laws were made for them. The protection of one group of people can’t remove the protection of others. This is the definition of special interest laws.

The following is a quote from the US Department of Education:
“The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced today that it has entered into an agreement on October 14, 2014 with California’s Downey Unified School District to resolve a complaint.
Our federal civil rights laws protect all students from sex-based discrimination and harassment, said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights.
I commend the Downey Unified School District for entering into this agreement to ensure that each of its students, including transgender students and students who do not conform to stereotyped notions of masculinity or femininity, can learn in a safe, educational environment.

The District committed to take the following actions:
Continue to treat the student the same as other female students in all respects in the education programs and activities offered by the District, including access to sex-designated facilities for female students; “…

We can, and should love and accept all people and never verbally attack, or discriminate against them. Christian values should not shame or condemn. However, that does not mean we are to restructure our beliefs and compromise the Bible that our faith is based upon. Laws should protect everyone, not just a special interest group, and then violate the rights and beliefs of others.

In the current political and cultural landscape, Christians that agree with the Bible, adhere to faith, uphold values in their ministries, families, and businesses, are targeted and defined as haters that discriminate. I do not hate or want harm to anyone that is different than me. However the message I am receiving is that I as a Christian and ministry leader is condemned, and hated for my beliefs. How does this help discrimination?
American liberties and rights are eroding faster than a mountain in a mudslide. This is not about politics; it is about standing up for Jesus Christ and retaining your rights to religious freedoms.

How do you stand up for God without compromise?
1. Be in right relationship to Jesus Christ, actively working to know His Word and align yourself with it through thoughts and actions.
2. Pray for the church and the nation to repent and God to heal our nation.
3. Pray for protection and provision for His children and their works of ministry and service which are under attack.
4. Open your eyes to what is going on around you.
5. Speak out to those you know, in society, the church, and governmental systems without compromise.
6. Vote for candidates that support biblical truth, and the constitution that is quickly being cast aside.
7. Volunteer to do the work that God calls you to so that He is reflected on the earth.
8. Financially give to help those doing the works that you are unable to do.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Edmund Burke

Copyright © 2016 by Michele Fleming, Ph.D.

Please read the following excerpt from http://www.defendjaxfamilies.com/

LGBT Laws in Your Community?
An excerpt from http://www.defendjaxfamilies.com/

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) laws if enacted will produce the following and must be defeated.
The term “Human Rights Ordinance” is a hoax. This is a preferential treatment law. It grants superior rights to LGBTs, while taking away rights from others.
The morality and the social fabric of the Community will decline.

Any church that opens its doors to non-members is a “Public Accommodation” and not exempt. Organizations with a religious mission to feed the homeless or arrange adoptions are exposed to liability for professing their beliefs.

Men alleging a female gender will be free to enter women and children’s, dressing, locker, shower and restrooms in “Public Accommodations” – an unstoppable crime opportunity which will be exploited by sexual predators.

“Women Only” facilities will cease to exist. In some schools boys will be allowed to enter girls’ dressing and shower areas, to expose themselves and to view girls in all stages of undress.

Rational concerns for modesty, privacy, and safety will be re-categorized as “discrimination” under the new (and far from settled) concept of “gender identity.” The rights of the self-styled “female” mean everything, and the rights to privacy, modesty and safety of the many women and children mean nothing.

All “Gender expression” is protected, so will be on display in public places and some schools, undermining the moral and religious training and values of children.

The law governs facilities in all nurseries and preschools, and in any school or college including private religious schools if they utilize the least public asset.

Businesses will NOT be told what “gender expressions” they must tolerate to avoid prosecution – that is determined by the daily whim of the official “victim”. So, owners will be sitting ducks for bankrupting lawsuits.

The 15-employee, small business exclusion will no longer apply in many cases, since many businesses are subject to the law as “Public Accommodations”.
The law will curb Free Speech and Religious Speech against LGBT lifestyles. It will compel government to punish those opposed to LGBT lifestyles.

Anyone who dares express an anti-LGBT conviction (even one based on religious belief) in a consensual conversation is guilty of discrimination, if “discrimination” is perceived by someone overhearing it.

Businesses will be forced to provide services that ultimately support and promote LGBT lifestyles which owners may oppose on religious grounds.
Owners will suffer more lawsuits and government intrusion. One “rights” complaint could easily exceed $20,000 in legal fees and costs, and produce financial ruin.

LGBTs will receive preferences in hiring, layoffs and in housing disputes.

There is no objective, documented proof of discrimination. City and judiciary costs will increase needlessly, wasting hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

For more christian counseling services visit: https://www.drmichele.org/services/