There is much talk lately about transgenderism and bathrooms. I gave it some thought and here’s what I came up with.

Firstly, I am a woman. I was born a girl baby, then grew into a girl toddler, then into a girl, then a female teenager, all the way up to woman. I have been a woman all my life. I’ve thought about what makes me a woman. A very basic test for whether I’m a woman or not, is just looking down. Just before I hop in the shower, I can look down and see clearly, I am a woman. I can see other things too, like the tummy I have and that my toenails need clipping, but I digress. Clearly, when I look down, I am a woman. It’s a very simple test.

Transgender men have to DO a lot of things to make them feel like a woman. They wear a lot of makeup. And I’m talking a LOT of it. They put on dresses and high heels and spanx, to give them that sense that they are a woman. They wear all of that stuff, yet many of us (women) hate it because it is such a burden. But there are those transgender males, piling on the makeup, squeezing themselves into pantyhose, fussing with their hair, and all that jazz. If they don’t do these things, clearly, they are men. They have to put on all the makeup, women’s clothing, high heels and spanx, because otherwise they look just like men.

If I don’t wear lipstick one day, I’m still a woman. In fact, I can go several days without lipstick, and I am still a female.

If I wear raggedy shorts (my homeschool uniform) and not a dress, I am, clearly, a woman. Think of that simple test I talked about earlier.

I don’t wear nail polish and I have remained a woman all these years. Even without the nail polish.

I don’t wear high heels, I prefer tennis shoes. I am woman hear me roar.

The more we reject God, the more we don’t want to accept His opinion on things. He made both men and women, He knows what He is doing. Yet a small percentage of people (and I mean a VERY small percentage) have decided that’s not what they want to be.

Transgender Man: “I don’t want to be a man, I want to be a woman!”

God: “Well I made you a man.”

Transgender Man: “I don’t want to be a man!!!”

God: “Well you can’t change that, I’ve already decided what you are.”

Transgender Man: “I’ll wear lipstick! I’ll get breast implants! I’ll take female hormones!!!”

God: “Well now, you will just be a weird man. I made you perfect, why are you wanting to mutilate yourself?”

Transgender Man: “I’m a man trapped in a woman’s body!!!”

God: “Well that was for about nine months. You are free now!”

Transgender Man: “I’ll use the woman’s bathroom! You know I will!”

God: “That won’t make you a woman. You will just be a weird man going in a women’s bathroom.”

Transgenders are merely playing dress up. Insisting, they use a women’s bathroom is just part of the play acting. It’s all a mental illness and we are just contributing to their ridiculous fantasy. Going into a woman’s bathroom does not make you a woman. I can go into a men’s bathroom and I will come out a woman every time. I could go in there a thousand times, and still come out a woman. I will never walk into a man’s restroom and get magically changed into a man. Can you imagine if that could happen?

First Boy: “C’mon, let’s go in the women’s restroom today. Let’s freak out our moms.”

Second Boy: “Are you sure? What if we can’t change back?”

First Boy: “My brother does it all the time. C’mon. Let’s just try it!”

Second Boy: “I’m scared. I don’t want to be a woman.”

First Boy: “We’ll go right back into the men’s room and we’ll change right back. C’mon. It will be fun!”

Second Boy: “Okay…I guess…you promise? We’re going right back into the men’s room to change back?”

First Boy: “Yes! I promise. We’ll change back right away!’

You know if that could happen it would happen in cities across the nation. Kids all over the place would be hopping into the magical bathrooms to change their sex. But it won’t ever happen. There are no magical bathrooms. Our sex is fixed just like the sun. The sun rises and sets everyday because it was fixed by God. Our sex is male and female because it was fixed by God. We can’t change the sun and we can’t change our sex. God fixed both. And God made both beautiful.

I was going to be the greatest basketball star Dillingham ever saw. Really, I was. I had been planning this in my head for as long as I could remember. And seeing as there was nothing else to do in town, being the greatest basketball star seemed like a really good idea. It was better than getting high, drunk or pregnant, which seemed like the only other options for kids.

We didn’t have little league or any such thing. So I didn’t get to prove my muster until I reached 7th grade and could play Junior High basketball. I was tall and getting taller, so things were looking good for my plan of becoming the greatest basketball star. I showed up the first day of practice. This was all part of the plan. We had to do layups. Coach didn’t show us how to do a layup, so I figured, since this WAS my dream and I was tall, a layup wasn’t too hard.

Coach talked about offense and defense. Having never played basketball before I wasn’t sure what he was talking about. (Hey, we didn’t have internet back then, give me a break!) He made us run lines at the end of practice. Whew! Those really hurt. I was in the middle of a major growth spurt and those lines really did kill my knees. (Just so you know, I grew five inches in a little over a year, so there).

So we kept practicing. I kept doing my layups. I kept trying to follow coach when he talked about offense and defense. I kept running those lines, though my knees were killing me. Frankly, I was killing it. My plan was succeeding.

The first game was a home game. Not sure who we were playing, but I was ready. All twelve of us were ready and raring to go. Game time. I wasn’t one of the starting five, but that’s okay, I was only a seventh grader. It was the eighth graders who were starting. Everything was part of the plan. I was playing basketball, getting taller, and working the knees. It was all coming true. The game started. The starting five, started playing. We were doing well. We were winning. We played the first half of the game and we came back to the second half at a comfortable lead. By the fourth quarter, we were so far ahead, coach started putting the bench in to play. There was seven of us. One girl got put in. Another girl went in. And another, and another. Four of the bench were put in the game. Then the fifth girl. And now there were two girls left on the bench who didn’t have any play time. I looked up at the clock. There were three minutes left. The girl next to me got put in the game. Two minutes left to play. One minute and thirty seconds left to play. I was still sitting on the bench. My eyes got really wet. I swallowed hard. My eyes were blurred. I’m not going to play this first game. That was okay. I think I’m okay. But I wasn’t okay. I was sitting at the end of the bench with tears dripping down my face, watching my dream shatter. Suddenly, there was thirty seconds on the clock. Coach called me to go in. Thirty seconds on the clock!!! That was how good I was? I choked back the tears and trotted out to the court. I was so emotional, I didn’t know what I was doing out there. But I only had less than thirty seconds. How bad could I screw it up?

My dream died that day. The next day after the game, my mom, who didn’t know a thing about basketball, took me to the local court to practice layups. Apparently, despite my height, my layups weren’t very good.

The facts surrounding my basketball playing seemed to paint a picture of me not being a very good basketball player. The coach waited until there were thirty seconds in the game to put me in. My mom felt she needed to help me in my layups. I still didn’t know what offense or defense was. I’m not a very good basketball player. The most painful part of that realization, was sitting there on the bench, feeling rejected by the coach. Being the last one on the bench to be put in the game. The coach waiting for the last thirty seconds before he would put me in. Waiting, waiting, waiting for the coach to pick me.

That whole story reminds me of God. I never had to sit on the bench and wait for Him. He did the work on the cross and waited with His arms open wide for me to accept Him as my Savior. I never had to be good enough. I never had to be perfect or good. He wanted me just as I was. He loved me just as I was. He accepted me just as I was. God loved me and I never had to prove anything to Him. He did the work. That is what I love about my faith. It was never anything I had to do. It was all God, always God. How amazing is that?

P.S. I didn’t always stink as a basketball player. The following year, I led our team to mostly wins as a starting five center. I went through high school playing basketball and played two years for my college team. So I didn’t stink all the time. I just had to learn the game. And I had to learn that basketball wasn’t everything. (I learned that lesson first thing).

Satan is alive and well on planet earth. That is the title of a book written by Hal Lindsey. And it’s an absolute truth. If you are a Christian, you should know this. I’ve had my battles with the enemy.

In case you don’t know, I am from Alaska. I grew up there, and for a very brief time, dragged my Californian husband up there to live for three years. After three years we moved back to California because as my husband said, “It’s cold up there.” While we lived there, I had a job that entailed me traveling to little villages surrounding the town where I’m from.

There was one particular village that I had to go to that I think was controlled by the enemy. It was a village my pastor talked about growing up. You see our old pastor came up to Alaska to plant churches. And that’s what he did. He would start in a village, build a church there, and once it got on it’s feet, he would move on to another village. He started in this one particular village, but got nowhere. He moved on. Eventually, he got to the town where I am from. I grew up under his preaching. When I got to high school he decided to go back to that village and try and start a church there. I believe he got nowhere again.

I had heard tales about this village. People there were very closed to the gospel. Well this village was going to have a conference and they invited me and several of my co-workers to fly up there and stay for the weekend.

As we got within miles of the village, a heaviness overtook me. All of a sudden, I felt anxious and hopeless. It was a panicked feeling. As we flew through the air, closer and closer to the village, the panicked feeling got stronger and stronger. I couldn’t pray. My mind was muddled and I just couldn’t pray in my head. This feeling was overwhelming me.

We landed okay and we got off the plane. Those panicky feelings stuck with me like dark clouds surrounding me. I couldn’t shake them. Again, I tried to pray. My mind remained muddled. I couldn’t form a prayer in my head. It was like I was completely confused. I kept thinking, I need to pray, but I couldn’t. In my head, I would start a prayer and it was like the words just floated out of my ears. I truly couldn’t pray. The feeling of hopelessness stuck with me like a thick glue to my heart and brain. I continued to feel overwhelmed and hopeless. What was wrong with me? The whole weekend I felt this way. I had a feeling that I wanted to leave this village so badly. If I never came back again, it would be too soon.

The conference ended and I couldn’t wait to get back on the plane and fly away. I wanted to go home so badly. As our plane lifted, we were speeding through the air away, far away from the village. Within miles AWAY from the village, something snapped within me. The feelings of hopelessness lifted. My mind was clear again. The feelings of panic and being overwhelmed also went away. I could pray. A lightness filled me. I felt whole again.

Years later, I was studying the book of Daniel in Bible study. In Daniel 10:12-13 an angel comes to Daniel but says he is late in coming because the Prince of Persia delayed him. Then Michael came to help him. Something clicked when I read that passage. There are demon gate keepers of towns. Either God has that place or the enemy does. I thought of this village. There was definitely a demonic influence over that town. As a Christian, I could feel it physically and spiritually. If I could have seen the demons, I think I would have been blown away by the multitudes of them.

I was caught off guard going into that village. I didn’t expect that demonic presence. If I knew, I would have had people praying for me. That would have been my protection. But I didn’t.

I’m not saying that the enemy is stronger than God. Certainly not! God defeated the enemy at the cross! God gave us tools for this spiritual battle we fight.

…”because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4

We aren’t alone. I was caught off guard. We are living in the last days. I think the battle is heating up. We just need to be aware as Christians, so we aren’t caught off guard like I was. Be aware and fight the good fight.

A few years  back, I was sitting in my living room, working on my Bible study lesson. All of a sudden, a thought came into my mind: call your sister-in-law. Well that was strange. Why do I need to call my sister-in-law? I put the thought out of my mind and continued working on my study. The thought came to me again: call your sister-in-law. I thought about it for a few seconds. Then I started making excuses as to why I shouldn’t call my sister-in-law. It was early in the morning, she was probably busy getting the kids ready for school. I would be a distraction. What would I say to her? I’m calling because a voice in my head said to call you? Yeah, that doesn’t sound crazy. The voice in my head persisted: call your sister-in-law. Okay, fine, I’ll call my sister-in-law.

When I called my sister-in-law, her voice sounded stressed. She said, immediately, that she was so glad I called. My phone call had just diffused some chaotic situation that was going on right then, and she needed a distraction. She kept thanking me. I was amazed. The voice in my head was looking out for my sister-in-law. I felt whole. God just used me to help out someone else. Wow! That felt really, really good. I had a “holy high” the rest of the day. A simple act of calling my sister-in-law, left her diffused and me content.

When we become Christians, God doesn’t just leave us to try and muddle through this world without any help. He, in fact, equips us with everything we need to protect us and guide us. But there in one “piece of equipment” many Christians don’t take advantage of. The Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is actually a person that comes to live inside the believer. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the trinity, comes to live inside the Christian. Think about what that means. Think of the power through the Holy Spirit living inside every Christian.

You know the phrase, “It came straight from the horse’s mouth?” It refers to the idea that when you get a piece of information, it’s accurate, because “it came straight from the horse’s mouth.” You can believe it. Well when the Holy Spirit speaks to you, “it’s coming straight from the horse’s mouth,” God is speaking directly to you. The Holy Spirit IS God. A Christian is completely connected with the only all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful Creator of the Universe through the Holy Spirit indwelling every believer. Whoa! That is amazing. Just think on that.

When the Holy Spirit spoke to me to call my sister-in-law, He was coming from the reference point that He was directly connected to God the Father who DID know all and see all. He knew my sister-in-law’s stress. She was probably praying too. Then God spoke to my head to tell me to call her.

But in being aware of the Holy Spirit, don’t waste time, like I did arguing with Him. I think that’s what a lot of us do. We argue with Him, so we don’t hear His voice. We pooh-pooh it off like I was doing, and miss those chances for “holy highs.” What kind of world would we live in, if we didn’t pooh-pooh it all off. If we didn’t argue in our head. To quote a song, “What a wonderful world that would be.” Every Christian has the potential for amazing things, if we would just allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us, and follow what He says.

As a Christian, we do hear voices in our head. But that is a good thing. That voice is most likely the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our connection to God. When God said, “Be still and know that I am God,” He was probably telling us to be quiet so we can hear the voice of God. He was helping us to harness that great power working in every believer’s life. If we are still, we can hear His voice. If we are not, we miss those amazing opportunities for God to use us.

A few years back, I was talking to one of my ladies in my Bible study. She was being coy with me and wanted to discuss something. She had emailed me, saying she couldn’t come to the Christmas Tea.

“Did you get my email regarding the tea…I can’t come?” she said.

“Yes, I did,” I said.

“You know that I can’t come to the tea?” she said.

“Yes, that’s what you said.”

She was baiting me. She wanted to tell me the reason she wasn’t coming to the tea. I took the bait.

“So why can’t you come to the tea?” I asked.

A satisfied sigh came over the phone. She said she DID NOT celebrate Christmas. She said it was a pagan holiday. She went into a long explanation about Christmas being a pagan holiday. How we don’t know when Jesus was born. She said she is mindful of idolatry and she doesn’t want any part of idolatry in her life. Christmas was idolatry.

I felt skewered after talking to her. I felt drained and icky. I began to question myself. I was a Christian and I celebrated Christmas. I really liked Christmas. Was I being a heathen? Was I dishonoring the Lord with my celebration of Christmas? I’ve been a Christian for a long time, could I be so off base as to celebrate a pagan holiday? Yikes.

She had so much angst about Christmas. She acted like Christmas was evil. Christians really only have two holidays: Christmas and Easter. Why are we tossing out Christmas?

In the Bible it tells us:

“Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day,” Col 2:16

Boy did I feel judged after talking to her. I felt judged the whole time she sat in my Bible study group. It was the things she said, especially. She acted like she had special knowledge about the Bible that the rest of us heathens did not have. She would not use Jesus’ name. She would only call God, Father. She would try and interpret the New Testament with Hebrew. Yet the New Testament was written in Greek. It was never written in Hebrew. She would constantly refer to Jewish festivals and celebrations. But not Christmas, of course. That was a pagan holiday. I knew something was off with her, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. What did she believe?

By the end of the year I had figured it out. That is a whole other story. Bottom line, she was into what is called, Hebrew Roots. Right off, Hebrew Roots sounds fairly safe. Our Judeo-Christian roots do come from Jewish history. But Hebrew Roots is far from safe. Hebrew Roots is a false religion that seeks to snare the Christian. Hebrew Roots throws Jesus under the bus and wants you to embrace everything Jewish: holidays, celebrations, eating of Kosher food, etc. The huge problem with it, is that they HAVE thrown Jesus under the bus. They rarely talk about Jesus Christ. That’s why no Christmas. Christmas celebrates Jesus Christ’s birth. Why would you want to celebrate the birth of a Messiah, when you really don’t believe in the Messiah?

Now they seduce the Christian by saying you can have a deeper relationship and understanding of God by embracing the Hebrew Roots. But that is just a rouse.

“Many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many,” Matt. 24:11

We live in the last days. We need to keep our eyes open and stay awake. I firmly believe that Hebrew Roots is just one of many false religions coming out right now. In my research of Hebrew Roots, I found an excellent website that educates one in all things Hebrew Roots- http://joyfullygrowingingrace.wordpress.com/

Because we live in the last days and perilous times, we need to alert each other to the dangers that are out there. http://joyfullygrowingingrace.wordpress.com/ does a really great job in educating Christians about the dangers of Hebrew Roots.

Here are some tips about Hebrew Roots. If you have friends or family who start doing some of the following things, investigate. It could be no problem at all. And then, it could be a huge problem. Just be wary.

• They begin to go to church on Saturday saying it is the real Sabbath.
• They stop using the name of Jesus and call Him Yeshua.
• They start eating kosher food.
• They start hating on Christmas and Easter and start posting articles on Facebook on how bad these holidays are.
• They began to celebrate Jewish holidays.

Now these aren’t bad in themselves, they are simply signs that your friends or family members might be getting swayed by Hebrew Roots. We are in the last days. Be wary dear sister. Like the picture I posted with this piece, Hebrew Roots tries to reflect our faith, but it’s not the real thing.