What the Science Really Says About “Gender-Affirming” Medicine
At the heart of the case for so-called “gender-affirming care” is the claim that transition prevents suicide. Research, however, shows the opposite. In a summary of recent research, Ben Johnson described how life satisfaction among those who undergo “transition” surgeries decreases rather than increases.
While activists in the U.S. seek to eliminate any restrictions to so-called “gender-affirming” interventions for minors, a number of European countries are adding safeguards around or backing off altogether from these controversial procedures. Following European neighbors Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, the Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board announced that it will revise its recommended standards of care for minors struggling with gender dysphoria. The proposed revisions would no longer allow the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transition surgery for minors.
As NHIB rightfully points out, the science surrounding “gender-affirming care” is far from settled. In fact, the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, or transition surgeries to treat gender dysphoria lacks adequate research. There is hardly any substantial research on the long-term effects of these treatments on minors, and what we do know about them is disregarded by ideologically driven proponents. Puberty blockers, for example, have been known to plague patients with loss of bone density. Cross-sex hormones lead to sterilization. Transition surgeries are rife with serious complications. In the name of a dubious ideology, we’re experimenting on children.
Additionally, most of the long-term studies that proponents cite to support current “gendering-affirming” protocols are poorly designed. As the report summarized: “As a rule, there is no control group in the studies.” This means that any effects are “often assessed at group level and not at individual level, so that unwanted effects for some patients can be masked by improvement in the rest of the group.”
-
Prayer as God Intended
How can we define prayer as children of God? In this way: Prayer is a relational expression that vocalizes our trust in our Heavenly Father. At the same time, just as a son speaking with his father learns to think, speak, and act like him, so speaking with our Heavenly Father will conform us into his image. At the same time, prayer must be done wisely, according to God’s will, with an expectant faith and trust that he hears and answers his children in Christ, all for his glory alone.
Prayer is, arguably, one of the greatest struggles of the Christian faith. While some may lament their poor Bible study habits, or their failure to share the gospel as frequently as they should, almost all would likely mourn over their poor prayer life. Almost no one will say that they feel they have reached the pinnacle of their prayer life; almost all are forced to admit that we do not pray as we should. And, yet, prayer is the oxygen of our spiritual life. Just as we need to breathe to live physically, we need to pray to live spiritually.
Prayer, however, is a privilege of the saint with many promises. For example, God promised in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that, “if 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 and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” While that particular promise was given to ancient Israel through King Solomon at the dedication of the Temple, the principle remains the same: God will honor the humble prayers of his saints. If the saints today would submit themselves to God in humble contrition and earnest prayer, would not God still send reformation and revival as he has done countless times in the past?
Yet, we do not currently have revival or reformation. We do not see a white harvest being reaped by many laborers, though Jesus commanded us to pray for laborers to be sent into the harvest that is ripe and white and plentiful (Matt 9:36–38). Instead, we see the decline of Christendom in the West. We see morality on the downgrade. We see churches emptying and closing.
Ultimately, our culture partially reflects the failures of the Church at large. When our churches are healthy, functioning, and thriving, the culture is bereft of godlessness and full of holiness. But how does that happen? In part, it happens when our churches are full of saints who are warriors of prayer, praying as God intended.
Consider the great revivals of the past. When Martin Luther saw reformation, he was known as a man of prayer. One of his most famous quotes is, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” When Charles Spurgeon saw the Metropolitan Tabernacle filled with thousands in the nineteenth century in London, it was because he prayed earnestly. When the Puritans saw revival in England and America, it’s because they were men and women of prayer.
We must be people of prayer. We must be prayer warriors who pray as God intended. To borrow a line from William Carey, we must pray expecting great things from God, and then we must go forth to attempt great things for God, by his grace and for his glory. But it all begins with knowing how to pray, which Jesus fleshes out for our benefit in Matthew 6:5–9. Here, he aids us by offering us two warnings about what prayer is not and then shows us what prayer is.
Let us consider these truths and learn to pray as God intended:1. Do not pray as the hypocrites do, to be noticed by others, but to be heard by God.
Jesus’s command in Matthew 6:5 is a simple one: “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.” This is a picture of how the Pharisees evidently prayed. They would stand in public spots and pray long-winded, elaborate, and noticeable prayers. As they did so, they would be seen by people—which is exactly what they wanted!—and they would be praised. Surely, some would say of them, “There are none more holy than they!”
But that was it. Their reward was being praised by men. There was no answer from God. As it turns out, even if the content of the prayer was theologically accurate, God had no interest in answering because it came from a hypocritical heart set on others, rather than focused on God.
Before dismissing this warning as peculiar to the Pharisees, we must see this as a danger common to man.
Read More
Related Posts: -
Guaranteed!
Paul compares our bodies to a tent – fragile and temporary. But one day we will trade in our earthly tent for a glorious dwelling. Our sin-riddled lives, worn by the years lived in a falling-apart world, will be turned in for solid, permanent lives, handmade by God. Mortality swallowed up by life.
For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.
2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-5
In this passage, and its context, Paul is encouraging the believers in Corinth to live by faith, not by sight. Our bodies appear to be falling apart and life is being swallowed up by death, but we hold onto the hope that they are giving way to greater things.
Paul compares our bodies to a tent – fragile and temporary. But one day we will trade in our earthly tent for a glorious dwelling.
Read More -
Spiritual Explosion—“My Eyes Have Seen the King”
When Isaiah was rocked and shaken by his complete unworthiness, he finally broke down and repented. Full surrender is the only way to recapture the power of the Spirit. Like Isaiah, we’ve been bought with a price, and we must surrender to our King’s will.
A desire to truly experience God runs deep within our veins. However, for most Christians, experiencing God is either elusive and frightening or impossible and improbable. But to the thirsty pilgrim, God’s presence is a wellspring of life. Do we fight for it, or let it fade away? Do we contend for a deeper walk with God, or complain about our life? Do we pursue God like never before, or postpone intimacy?
Psalm 85:6 is the prayer that unlocks the power: “Oh God, we are desperate for more of you. Will you revive us again so that we can rejoice and experience your power and presence in our lives” (paraphrase).
Filling an Empty Vessel
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul tells us to “be filled with the Spirit.” The filling of the Spirit is God’s work, but we must submit by emptying our vessel. There can be many subsequent fillings of the Spirit (cf. Acts 4:8 and Acts 13:9). However, you can’t fill something that is already full — full of self. We must repent of pride and renounce arrogance.
Isaiah 6 offers an incredible glimpse into this dynamic power and the possibility of truly experiencing God.
Isaiah describes the day that his wonderful experience took place. It was in the year that King Uzziah died. He would never forget that day, and you too will never forget the day when God radically fills you with His Spirit, or when you return to Him and experience the joy of your salvation again. It’s a true spiritual explosion.
Holy Ground Shakes
Isaiah said that he “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple” (6:1). What a wonderful picture of His majesty and His power. The size of the train on a robe would often match the authority of the king. God’s train filled the entire temple. What an awesome sight to behold! No better words could have been chosen — God Almighty rules and reigns.
Isaiah also saw amazing six-winged creatures known as seraphim. Their cry should be our cry as well when we truly experience God: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”
It’s not by chance that moral purity encompasses the rhythm of their soul. Of all the attributes of God, holiness is mentioned more frequently than the others. Even the posts of the door of the temple responded to the cry of holiness. So powerful was the declaration that the entire entrance was shaken by the voices who cried, “Holy, holy, holy.” Let those words sink in!
Read More
Related Posts:
