#2027 (7/31) "I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision for the Military."

"I WAS ONCE TRANSGENDER. WHY I THINK TRUMP MADE THE RIGHT DECISION FOR THE MILITARY." - Walt Heyer / July 26, 2017 / http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/26/why-forcing-the-military-to-pay-for-sex-changes-would-be-disastrous [AS I SEE IT: I Of course, the fact that this article was written by someone who once considered themself transgender and now works with those who regret that  decision makes this a significant perspective.  But further, I believe that what this headline points out is key. The President made a decision for the military. The military is a unique effort to protect all Americans and has special requirements to do so effectively. If those outside the military want to engage in transgender transitions such as surgeries, that's their choice. However, when we - the American taxpayer - are left with footing the bill for an individual's dysphoria and our military suffer from the results of such individuals serving, then that is just wrong. P.S. - If you are a Christian, you might also want to take a look at the excerpt from an article written by a Christian minister who has had a ministry reaching out to homosexuals for decades - Stan]

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President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that transgender individuals would not be permitted to serve in the military. (Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters/Newscom)

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t allow transgender individuals to serve in the military: "After consultation with my Generals and military experts, please be advised that the United States Government will not accept or allow Transgender individuals to serve in any capacity in the U.S. Military. Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail. Thank you."

When I discovered Congress voted earlier this month to not block funding for transgender-related hormone therapies and sex change surgeries, I wondered if it considered how devastating this will be to the fitness, readiness, and morale of our combat-ready troops. In July, the House of Representatives voted down Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, which would have banned the military from funding such treatments.

Paying for transition-related surgeries for military service members and their families is beyond comprehensible. Perhaps they have forgotten that our military was forged to be the world’s strongest fighting force, not a government-funded, politically correct, medical sex change clinic for people with gender dysphoria.

Gender dysphoria, the common diagnosis for one who feels at odds with his or her birth gender, develops from prolonged anxiety and depression. People are not born that way. The “proof” for a diagnosis of gender dysphoria is having strongly held feelings—but feelings can and often do change over time.

The military is expected to prepare its members in warfare: to kill, destroy, and break our enemies. The most important factors in preparing a strong military are not hormone therapy, surgical sex changes, or politically correct education.We need psychologically fit, emotionally sound, highly trained troops to protect our nation from its enemies. While countless homeless vets are currently sleeping under cardboard boxes, or waiting for life-saving care from the Department of Veterans Affairs, we learn that transgender military recruits now qualify for preferential coverage for sex change procedures that are scientifically unproven and extremely costly.

I myself was fully sex-reassigned from male to female, and eventually came to accept my birth gender. I have over 70 years of firsthand life experience, eight years of living as a woman, 20 years of researching the topic, and 12 years of helping others who, like me, found that transitioning and reassignment surgery failed to be proper treatment and want to restore their lives to their birth gender.

Costly, but Not Effective
     Transitioning can be expensive—up to $130,000 per person for numerous body-mutilating and cosmetic procedures over many months (or years) to fashion the body to appear as the opposite sex. Yet, no matter how skilled the surgeon, or how much money is spent, it is biologically impossible to change a man into a woman or a woman into a man. The change is only cosmetic.
     The medical community continues to recommend this radical “treatment” in the absence of scientific evidence that people are better off in the long run. This population attempts suicide at a rate of 40 percent. Even after the full surgical change, they attempt to end their lives, or tragically succeed.
     Over 60 percent of this diverse population suffer from co-existing mental disorders. Consider Bradley Manning (now Chelsea Manning), a former Army soldier who was so psychologically and emotionally unbalanced that he stole confidential documents from the military and forwarded them to WikiLeaks.

The Military Is a Fighting Force, Not a Gender Clinic
     The military should not provide sex change surgery.
     Through my website, sexchangeregret.com, I hear from people who experienced firsthand how damaging and unnecessary reassignment surgeries were. For them, the sex change failed to resolve the emotional and psychological disorders that drove the desire to change gender. Many write after living the transgender life for years. They write to ask for advice on how to reverse the original surgical change and restore their lives to the original birth gender like I did, a process called detransition.
     Some service members will come to regret having undergone the surgery and will want to detransition. Where will the military be then? Will the military pay for the sex change reversal procedure, too? Failed “sex change surgeries” are not uncommon and will drive up the cost to care for the military transgender population above the projected $3-4 billion 10-year cost.
    Beyond the financial cost, there’s the question of the service member’s military readiness during their transition or detransition, as the process often comes with a great deal of anxiety and emotional instability.

     I know of many who have struggled to adapt to the new gender role for years after reassignment surgery. In my view, as a former trans-female who works every day with regretters, allowing the military to pay for sex change surgeries will make a mockery of the U.S. military.

Advocates are relentless in their pursuit of making others, via the government and insurance companies, cover the cost of sex change procedures. If the military had been forced to pay, the advocates would have used this as leverage to press every other entity—both government and commercial—to pay for sex change surgeries as well.

As a person who lived the transgender life for eight years, I can attest that assisting, affirming, or paying for hormone therapies and genital mutilation surgeries would not have strengthened our military. They would only have brought adverse long-term consequences, both for individuals and for our armed forces as a whole.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Walt Heyer is an author and public speaker. Through his website, SexChangeRegret.com, and his blog, WaltHeyer.com, Heyer raises public awareness about those who regret gender change and the tragic consequences suffered as a result.
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"Why Christians Should Applaud the President’s Ban on Transgenders in the Military" - 
Michael Brown : Jul 27, 2017; https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2017/07/27/why-christians-should-applaud-the-presidents-ban-on-transgenders-in-the-military-n236081
     "...The aggressive LGBT agenda in the military has also trampled religious liberties underfoot, as revealed by headlines like these: “Soldiers Plead for Release from ‘Transgender Training’” and “Pentagon’s Transgender Policy Steamrolls Religious Liberty.” Why does our military want to scorn the deeply held beliefs and convictions of hundreds of thousands of its best men and women? Religious liberties are foundational to the well-being of our nation, which includes our military, and anything that pushes back against the LGBT assault on those liberties is right and good and godly."
     "As for the claim that Jesus “was best known for his radical inclusivity and teachings to love one another,” actually, He was best known for radically transforming all those who followed Him. As I’ve often said, Jesus practiced transformational inclusion, not affirmational inclusion.
He also defined marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman (Matthew 19:4-6), taught that all sexual sin outside of marriage was defiling (Matthew 15:19-20), and reaffirmed the sexual ethics of the Torah, which included the prohibition of homosexual practice (Matthew 5:17-20; Leviticus 18:22)."
     "As followers of Jesus, then, we reach out to the marginalized and hurting with compassion, offering them new life in Him. But we don’t throw out logic, common sense, or the concern for the well-being of everyone else. Nor do we ask the military to risk the lives of others to affirm the feelings of people suffering from gender dysphoria. So yes, I applaud the president’s decision, and yes, I do so as a follower of Jesus."

#2026 (7/30) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "Good News about Sharing the Good News - The Longing that Won’t Go Away"

"GOOD NEWS ABOUT SHARING THE GOOD NEWS - THE LONGING THAT WON'T GO AWAY"- by: Eric Metaxas & Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint.org, July 26, 2017; http://breakpoint.org/2017/07/breakpoint-good-news-sharing-good-news/ [AS I SEE IT: Evangelism should not be a "have to" for the Christian but a natural "want to." Sure, it may make us anxious and even scared not knowing how a non-Christian in our circle of influence - family member, friend, co-worker - will react. But what's always good to remember is what this article reminds us - everyone who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus (and so many just have another religion about God) has a longing for THAT relationship they cannot figure out. It's a longing God has placed in each human heart that will never be satisfied apart from what the gospel of Jesus shares. Let's all see every opportunity to present the Savior to someone as a true privilege and not some duty. What that person does with the Savior is not our responsibility; ours is simply to present him as best as we know how. - Stan]

I want to share with you some very good news about sharing the Good News.

The great journalist Gilbert Keith Chesterton wrote of an Englishman who set out in a yacht, thought he had landed on a new island in the South Seas, and realized at last that he had discovered … England. Chesterton, you see, was that man. In seeking to sail away from God, Chesterton, like countless others before and since, found himself inexorably drawn to the God who alone could satisfy his deepest longings. As Augustine prayed, “Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee.”

That sense of longing for God is good news indeed for Christians, who are called to point people to its Source. Jerry Root, who is Assistant Professor of Evangelism and Associate Director of the Institute for Strategic Evangelism at Wheaton College, talks about this good news in a great new article. It’s called “A Broken, Dying World: Why Spiritual Hunger Is Real and How We Can Begin to Meet People Where They Are,” and it’s available on our colleague Ed Stetzer’s blog. Come to BreakPoint.org for the link. Jerry, you may recall, is the co-author, with our own Stan Guthrie, of a great book, “The Sacrament of Evangelism.” We’ll link you to that, too.

Jerry reminds us that human beings, who are made in God’s image, “should expect to find something within us that longs to be connected to Him.” Very true. And we can use that longing in evangelism. In “The Sacrament of Evangelism,” Jerry and Stan show how in John chapter 4, Jesus established a point of connection with the woman at the well, asking her for water. This common ground quickly awakened in her a curiosity about and eventually a longing for the “living water” He offered—and still offers us today.

In the article, Jerry also says that “if we feel disconnected from God, we can assume that something has gone awry and we feel the estrangement sorely.” I know that’s true. Have you ever noticed that those who run from God because they want to pursue happiness apart from Him and His plan for their lives are actually some of the angriest, most unhappy people around?

I know that suffering is a normal part of human existence, and Christians are in no way exempt. But it’s also true, according to Gallup, that religious Americans generally have a higher sense of wellbeing—happiness—than the nonreligious do. Why? Christians are at home in a broken world, and in our own brokenness, because we know that one day it will all be mended by our Father in heaven. As Chesterton said, “The modern philosopher had told me again and again that I was in the right place, and I had still felt depressed…. But I had heard [through the Christian faith] that I was in the wrong place, and my soul sang for joy, like a bird in spring.”

In such a broken world, Jerry says, “an honest awareness of our own futility in managing our lives and relationships finds respite in the message that this loving, and forgiving God also longs to be Lord of our lives and help us to set broken things to mending. The restlessness can find respite.” Whether we know it or not, Jerry says, more people than we realize, in a culture where all the standards are falling, long to be mended and to do better—and they are frequently very interested in talking about it. Such longing confirms the Bible’s diagnosis that we are sinners and need a Savior. It’s a longing that won’t go away. That’s why the gospel is such good news!

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RESOURCES - The longing Eric mentions is a familiar hunger to all the human race. It’s a longing that is satisfied completely by Christ’s redemptive work on the cross—the Good News. It’s our privilege as believers to share that act of love through words and deeds with those hearts that are restless to find respite.
"The Sacrament of Evangelism" - Jerry Root, Stan Guthrie, Lyle Dorsett | Moody Publishers | April 2011; http://www.colsoncenterstore.org/product.asp?sku=9780802422880
Orthodoxy - G.K. Chesterton | Send the Light Distribution; http://www.colsoncenterstore.org/Product.asp?sku=9780977056583
"A Broken, Dying World: Why Spiritual Hunger Is Real and How We Can Begin to Meet People Where They Are" - Jerry Root | Christianity Today | June 9, 2017; http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2017/june/broken-dying-world-why-spiritual-hunger-is-real-and-how-we-.html
“Our Hearts Are Restless . . .” - Gene Fant | First Things | December 3, 2009; https://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/12/our-hearts-are-restless
"Religious Americans Enjoy Higher Wellbeing" - Frank Newport, Dan Witters, and Sangeeta Agrawal | Gallup.com | February 16, 2012; http://www.gallup.com/poll/152723/religious-americans-enjoy-higher-wellbeing.aspx
"Evangelism as Sacrament" - Owen Strachan| Christianity Today | April 28, 2011; http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/april/velcroedhigh.html

#2025 (7/29) PRO-LIFE SAT: "Terminally ill baby Charlie Gard has died after his life support was switched off"

"TERMINALLY ILL BABY CHARLIE GARD HAS DIED AFTER HIS LIFE SUPPORT WAS SWITCHED OFF" - By Nancy Flanders |July 28, 2017; https://www.liveaction.org/news/charlie-grad-parents-fight-final-moments-peace-privacy/

Terminally ill British baby Charlie Gard has died after his life support was switched off against his parents’ wishes. He spent his final moments in hospice, after the courts decided that he would not be able to go home. His mother, Connie Yates, wrote in a post on social media: “Our beautiful little boy has gone, we are so proud of you Charlie.”

After months of battling Great Ormond Street Hospital and U.K. courts, Chris Gard and Connie Yates were given the opportunity to have an American doctor with an experimental treatment examine their son. But it was too late. Charlie’s body had sat too long, patiently waiting for the chance to be saved, as his parents fought with all they had. The muscular atrophy he suffered meant that the nucleoside bypass therapy his parents had worked to get for him would no longer be beneficial. Then, as they prepared to say goodbye to their son, just 11 months old, they said the hospital was placing obstacles in the way of them bringing Charlie home to die in peace and privacy.

Grant Armstrong, representative for Gard and Yates, told the court, “We struggle with the difficulties the hospital has placed in the way of the parents’ wish to have a period of time, probably a relatively short period of time … before the final act in Charlie’s short life.”

Connie Yates and Chris Gard enjoy a picnic with their son Charlie Gard.

The hospital argued that it was too difficult to give Charlie the care he needs at home and that it would allow Charlie to go home “if it is practical, possible and safe, and in Charlie’s interests so that he comes to no harm.” The hospital said in a statement that there were practical reasons to prevent Charlie from going home – one being that the ventilator would not fit through the front door of the family’s home. Armstrong said no one from the hospital had visited the Gard family home or the home of a relative, which was one possible location for the family to go with Charlie.

Mr. Justice Francis, the High Court judge who was presiding over the hearings concerning Charlie’s life, gave the parents until Wednesday, July 26, 2017, to find a team of intensive-care specialists able to care for Charlie at home. Francis said he would rather the matter be decided outside court but that he would make the decision if he had to. Then, on July 26, Francis gave the hospital and the Gard family until noon on Thursday to agree on a plan. In court, Yates requested a medical team of her choosing for hospice.

Charlie’s parents had raised over $1.5 million to bring him to the United States for treatment. The hospital said it didn’t believe that the experimental treatment in the United States would work, therefore it wouldn’t let Charlie go. The decision sparked a legal battle that lasted four months. At the end of June, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the hospital could turn off Charlie’s life support; however, new evidence quickly surfaced showing that the experimental treatment could indeed help Charlie. U.S. neurologist Dr. Michio Hirano was flown in to examine Charlie, and though he had been willing to treat Charlie for months, he announced that now it was too late. “This case is now about time,” Armstrong said. “Sadly time has run out. … Charlie has waited patiently for treatment. Due to delay, that window of opportunity has been lost.”

Charlie’s parents believed that despite any challenges Charlie might have faced as the result of mitochondrial disease, his life was valuable and worth living. The hospital felt the opposite. This leaves the world questioning who has the right to choose the care a child receives – doctors or parents? [bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

In the Royal Court of Justice in London, Connie stated, “Charlie was left to lie and deteriorate. We wanted Charlie to have the chance … [there] was never false hope, as confirmed by many experts. Now we’ll never know…” The couple feel they should “have been trusted as parents.”

 [bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

#2024 (7/28) "5 Good Reasons Why Transgender Accommodations Aren’t Compatible With Military Realities"

"5 GOOD REASONS WHY TRANSGENDER ACCOMODATIONS AREN'T COMPATIBLE WITH MILITARY REALITIES" - Ryan T. Anderson  / July 26, 2017 / http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/26/5-good-reasons-transgender-accommodations-arent-compatible-military-realities/ [NOTE: Be sure to check next Monday's post #2027 for a third article on the subject of transgenderism in the military.]

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that transgender individuals will not be allowed to serve in the military, citing concerns over financial costs and internal disruptions. (Photo: iStock Photos)

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced that he was reversing an Obama-era policy that opened the military to people who identify as transgender. That policy, announced during the last year of President Barack Obama’s second term, was scheduled to go into effect earlier this month, but Secretary of Defense James Mattis announced a six-month delay in its implementation to review whether it was in fact prudent given the nature of the military and its mission.

The mission of our armed forces is winning wars and protecting the nation. So any personnel policy must prioritize military readiness and mission-critical purposes first. Trump’s announcement that it would not be feasible to open the military to personnel who identify as transgender returns the military to the policy it had always observed, before the Obama administration’s 12th-hour, politically driven imposition of a transgender agenda.

As I explain in my forthcoming book “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” the best biology, psychology, and philosophy conclude that sex is a biological reality and that gender is the social expression of that reality. The most helpful therapies for gender dysphoria focus not on achieving the impossible—changing bodies to conform to thoughts and feelings—but on helping people accept and even embrace the truth about their bodies and reality.

Unfortunately, 41 percent of people who identify as transgender will attempt suicide at some point in their lives, compared to 4.6 percent of the general population. And people who have had transition surgery are 19 times more likely than average to die by suicide.

People who identify as transgender suffer a host of mental health and social problems—including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse—at higher rates than the general population. Biology isn’t bigotry, and we need a sober and honest assessment of the human costs of getting human nature wrong.

So there were well-justified concerns that Obama was using the military to advance the latest social justice culture warrior agenda item—seeking to mainstream transgender identities and promote controversial therapies for gender dysphoria. Obama’s policy change ignored the reality that placing individuals who might be at increased risk for suicide or other psychological injury in the most stressful situation imaginable—the battlefield—is reckless.

But even people who disagree about the underlying transgender issues should acknowledge that there are practical concerns for the military when it comes to people who identify as transgender. Wednesday’s announcement reflects good reasons why transgender accommodations are incompatible with military realities. Here are just a few of the considerations:

1. That the privacy of service members must not be infringed.
    This means that no soldiers, including those who identify as transgender, should be allowed to use the sex-specific facility of the opposite sex. When it comes to barracks, bathroom, showers, etc., the privacy of all service members must be respected. Given the nature of military living quarters, it is unclear where soldiers who identify as transgender could be housed.

2. That all service members remain combat-ready at all times.
    But soldiers who have “transitioned” medically require regular hormone treatments and follow-up visits after sex-reassignment surgery. It is unclear how someone who has “transitioned” would be deployable.

3. That all service members be held to the same physical fitness standards, and that these standards by based on the reality of biological sex, not the subjective “gender identity.”
    Men who identify as women should not be held to a lower standard than other men—they should be held to the standard for someone with their body that the military has determined is most effective for combat.

4. That scarce taxpayer monies not be expended on costly and controversial sex-reassignment therapies.
    This is particularly the case as growing foreign threats are stretching our military’s resources, and as we struggle as a nation to provide basic health care to all. But it is unclear how soldiers who identify as transgender would pay for their treatments apart from including coverage in Tricare, the military health care program.

5. That the medical judgment, conscience rights, and religious liberty of military doctors, chaplains, commanding officers, and fellow service members be respected.
    Unless and until military leaders are able to find a way to respect all of these provisions, there will remain good reasons why the military will be unable to accommodate people who identify as transgender.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Ryan T. Anderson, Ph.D., is the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at The Heritage Foundation, where he researches and writes about marriage, bioethics, religious liberty and political philosophy. Anderson is the author of several books and his research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme Court justices in two separate cases. Read his Heritage research.

#2023 (7/27) "Transgender Americans Won’t Be Allowed to Serve in Military, Trump Announces"

"TRANSGENDER AMERICANS WON'T BE ALLOWED TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY, TRUMP ANNOUNCES" - Fred Lucas / July 26, 2017 / http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/26/transgender-americans-wont-allowed-serve-military-trump-announces/ [NOTE: Be sure to read the excerpts from another article posted at the end of this one. For instance, did you know that - with his continued social engineering of the military, President Obama only had a 15% approval rating among those in the military. Did you ever hear THAT from the mainstream press? ALSO, be sure to check out TOMORROW'S post of why transgenderism is not  compatible with the military. - Stan]

President Donald Trump greets soldiers as he arrives July 24 at Raleigh County Memorial Airport in Beaver, West Virginia. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters/Newscom)

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday morning that the U.S. military will not accept openly transgender individuals, reversing an Obama administration policy directive.

Earlier this month, Defense Secretary James Mattis had said he would delay new admissions of openly transgender Americans into the military until Jan. 1, on the advice of military brass. But Trump’s announcement appeared to seal the matter, at least for the time being. Trump made the announcement in three tweets Wednesday, saying he had consulted with Pentagon leaders.

Trump’s announcement could affect 2,500 service members and 1,500 reserves who are transgender, based on numbers from a RAND Corp. study in 2015. Sex transition surgeries and hormone treatments would cost taxpayers about $3.7 billion over the next decade, according to the Family Research Council.

Ash Carter, President Barack Obama’s last defense secretary, announced a policy change in 2015 allowing transgender people to openly serve in the military. Since that time, the Pentagon has delayed implementation as leaders of the branches evaluated details of how the change would affect military operations from a legal, medical, and administrative standpoint.

“Unless Congress passes a law that says the military must accept transgender people, the military can set its own rules,” Thomas Spoehr, director of the Center for National Defense at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Wednesday. Spoehr said Trump appears to have assessed related issues with military commanders and determined the Obama-Carter policy would not help military readiness.“He could not see the military utility of allowing transgender people to serve in the military,” Spoehr said, summarizing the apparent bottom line of the president’s decision.

Trump appears to have public opinion behind him. A Rasmussen Reports poll last month found that 23 percent of likely voters say they support allowing openly transgender individuals to serve in the military. Another 31 percent said it would be bad for the military, while 38 percent said it would have no impact.

However, the president’s abrupt announcement via Twitter—which Pentagon public relations officials weren’t prepared for—could prompt legal action. In a formal statement, the LGBT military advocacy group OutServe-Servicemembers Legal Defense Network said: "In his latest example of pseudo-policy-by-twitter, Donald Trump has shown blatant disregard for transgender service members who have been serving openly since October 2016. The disruptive burden to the military comes from indecision in a White House which itself is not focused on victory if it’s targeting service members. The readiness, effectiveness, and lethality of the armed services comes from the commitment of our troops—not the vagaries and bigotry of exclusionary policies. We are committed to transgender service members. We are going to fight for them as hard as they are fighting for the country. And we’re going to start by taking the fight to Donald Trump in the federal court."

Over the past two weeks, House Republicans split on whether to include language in military funding legislation to prevent tax dollars from being spent on sex changes and hormone therapies for transgender individuals. In proposing an amendment to the Keep America Safe Act, Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., said on the House floor July 14:"We are $20 trillion in debt and the taxpayers, by my figures, are projected to spend $3.7 billion in the next 10 years for sex-reassignment surgeries and hormone therapies for those in the military that wish to transition from one sex to another. The total cost includes the manpower while the individual transitions, which can take up to a year or longer. Spoehr said Trump’s announcement likely makes the House debate moot.

Asked if the president’s decision would affect transgender individuals already serving in the military, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the White House and Defense Department will be working out details.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., who proposed the original amendment prohibiting funding costly surgeries and treatments as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, welcomed Trump’s decision. “Our military is the most effective, efficient, and well-funded fighting force in the world, and as the president notes, we cannot burden our armed forces with the tremendous costs and disruptions that transgenders in the military would entail,” Hartzler, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a formal statement, adding:"With the challenges we are facing across the globe, we are asking the American people to invest their hard-earned money in national defense. Each dollar needs to be spent to address threats facing our nation. The costs incurred by funding transgender surgeries and the required additional care it demands should not be the focus of our military resources."

Trump deserves credit for following through on a broader promise to protect the military, said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, which researches and promotes conservative social policies. “It’s rare that a political leader will do what he says he’ll do and push back against sacred cows,” Perkins told reporters during a conference call.  The former Marine added: “The Republican platform to oppose social engineering foisted on the military by the previous administration.”

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, also issued a statement supporting Trump’s decision, saying: "For eight years, the Department of Defense under President Obama went about the systematic and intentional transformation of the U.S. military, unnecessarily disrupting the world’s most elite fighting force from their most pressing and urgent requirement—keeping our country and its allies safe. It is heartening to have a commander in chief who puts the expert opinions of his generals and military officials ahead of the destructive forces of political correctness and identity politics."

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

"Military Trans Fixed by Trump" - Tony Perkins, Washington Watch, July 26, 2017; http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA17G47&f=WU17G17

"Our troops have waited eight years for a leader who puts America's mission first. Today, they got one. In what may end up being the single most important military decision of his presidency, Donald Trump announced that the days of politically-correct warfighting are over. After a tumultuous 13 months, the new commander-in-chief completely upended his predecessor's transgender policy, rescuing our troops from the grip of the Obama years and restoring a sense of true pride to a military devastated by two terms of social engineering. ... When Obama left office with a 15-percent military approval rating, most people probably wondered why this policy was open for discussion at all. After years of running our troops into the ground, it's no wonder the American people finally stood up and said enough. Now, seven months into his administration, President Trump is rewarding voters by checking another box on his list of promises. "We are going to get away from political correctness," he vowed. And there's no better time than now. Our deepest thanks to the commander-in-chief for putting the military's focus back where it belongs."
Commentary:  "I Was Once Transgender. Why I Think Trump Made the Right Decision" - http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/26/why-forcing-the-military-to-pay-for-sex-changes-would-be-disastrous/
Commentary: "5 Good Reasons Transgender Accommodations Aren’t Compatible With Military Realities" - http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/26/5-good-reasons-transgender-accommodations-arent-compatible-military-realities/

#2022 (7/26) "Continental Suicide - 'The Strange Death of Europe' and European Christianity"

"CONTINENTAL SUICIDE - 'THE STRANGE DEATH OF EUROPE' AND EUROPEAN CHRISTIAINITY" - by: Eric Metaxas & Roberto Rivera, Breakpoint.org, July 24, 2017; http://breakpoint.org/2016/04/is-there-a-europe-without-christianity/

What happens when a civilization forgets—or rejects—its roots? We’re seeing it right now.

“Europe is committing suicide. Or at least it leaders have decided to commit suicide.” Those are the opening words of Douglas Murray’s controversial best-seller, “The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam.” What Murray means when he says that Europe is “committing suicide” is that “the civilization we know as Europe is in the process of committing suicide.” It’s a fate that neither his native “Britain nor any other Western European country can avoid . . . because [they] all appear to suffer from the same symptoms and maladies.” It’s Murray’s diagnosis of these “symptoms and maladies” that should interest Christians.

As the subtitle suggests, Murray’s book covers much of the same ground as other recent books by authors such as Mark Steyn, Bruce Bawer, and the French novelist Michelle Houellebecq. These books seek to warn readers about the threat to European institutions and values posed by mass Islamic immigration. While Murray is, to put it mildly, skeptical about the possibility of successfully assimilating millions of Muslim immigrants and their children, this mass migration alone wasn’t enough to cause the “strange death” alluded to in his title. As Murray tells readers, “even the mass movement of millions of people into Europe would not sound such a final note for the continent were it not for the fact that (coincidentally or otherwise) at the same time Europe lost faith in its beliefs, traditions and legitimacy.”

In other words, it is mass Islamic immigration plus Europe’s spiritual exhaustion—my words not his—that threaten to put an end to European civilization. And at the heart of the loss of faith Murray cites is Europe’s turning its back on Christianity.

In one chapter he writes about a sense shared by many European intellectuals, including himself, that “life in modern liberal democracies is to some extent thin or shallow and that life in modern Western Europe in particular has lost its sense of purpose.” According to Murray, “Here is an inheritance of thought and culture and philosophy and religion which has nurtured people for thousands of years and may well fulfill you too.”

The “religion” Murray refers to is, of course, Christianity, which he calls the “source” of European ideas about rights, laws, and the institutions that protect them. He tells his secularized readers that “There is no reason why the inheritor of a Judeo-Christian civilization and Enlightenment Europe should spend much, if any, of their time warring with those who still hold the faith from which so many of those beliefs and rights spring.”

He also derides the varieties of “European Christianity [that] have lost the confidence to proselytize or even believe in their own message.” This lack of confidence, in Murray’s estimation, is why some young Europeans turn to Islam, which doesn’t suffer from the sense that “the story has run out.”

What makes Murray’s account especially interesting is that he is a self-described atheist. His reasons for disbelief aren’t particularly persuasive, but that doesn’t negate his much-needed reminder of Europe’s debt to Christianity and how its rejection of its Christian past threatens its future. The same, of course, could be said about America.

As Murry writes, “If being ‘European’ is not about race—as we hope it is not—then it is even more imperative that it is about ‘values.’ This is what makes the question ‘What are European values?’ so important.” It’s a question that can’t be answered without first acknowledging the source of those values.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Resources - Eric presents a sober warning about what may be coming to the Church in America. Europe’s rejection of its Christian heritage has led to serious consequences for many of that continent’s countries. 
"The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam" - Douglas Murray | Bloomsbury Continuum Publishers | June 2017; http://www.colsoncenterstore.org/product.asp?sku=9781472942241
"European Suicide, Spiritual and Physical: One Follows the Other" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | May 10, 2016; http://breakpoint.org/2016/05/european-suicide-spiritual-physical/
"Is There a Europe without Christianity?: A Continental Divide" - John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | April 29, 2016; http://breakpoint.org/2016/04/is-there-a-europe-without-christianity/

#2021 (7/25) "Charlie Gard’s Fight Coming to a Close, but His Legacy Will Live On"

"CHARLIE GARD'S FIGHT COMING TO A CLOSE, BUT H IS  LEGACY WILL LIVE ON" - Melanie Israel / July 24, 2017 /  http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/24/charlie-gards-fight-coming-close-legacy-will-live/ [AS I SEE IT: We're coming to the end of one of the most tragic stories I've heard of in a long time. Of course, it's not just that a little boy is about to die because of some terrible illness; that happens countless times every day. What makes it most tragic is that we will never know if this boy had a chance to live - however slim. And we won't because some bureaucrats overruled his parents wishes and decided he didn't deserve that chance and was willing to allow him to die. They had that power because they - the  State - had paid for his treatments under their healthcare system. It's what inevitably happens when you accept the government's help and give them the power to make life and  death decisions. It's why we need to stand against socialistic national health care systems. Is it just coincidence that we in America just happen to be having the crucial debate of finally repealing ObamaCare? Maybe little Charlie's legacy will  include helping to spur our leaders to prevent his fate being suffered by others in America. - Stan]

Charlie Gard's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, announced they are ending their lengthy court battle over treatment for their son with a rare genetic disease. (Photo: Ben Cawthra/Sipa USA/Newscom)

The fight to save Charlie Gard, the British infant at the center of a worldwide debate about parental rights and medical treatment, is coming to a close. On Monday, Charlie’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, announced they are ending their lengthy court battle over treatment for their son.

One month after his birth last fall, baby Charlie was diagnosed with a very rare genetic disease. It’s so rare that he is one of only 16 people in the world to have ever received the particular diagnosis. He has remained at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London ever since. In early 2017, Charlie’s mother began raising money to pay for an experimental treatment in America. The treatment has been used in cases similar to Charlie’s, but not his particular condition.
However, in April, a High Court judge ruled that—against Charlie’s parents’ wishes—the hospital could end Charlie’s life support.

Yet Gard and Yates never gave up on their son and continued fighting for him to receive treatment.
In the months that followed, Charlie’s parents and the Great Ormond Street Hospital continued their way through the British court system, and after exhausting all legal options in the U.K., the case went to the European Court for Human Rights. But after several weeks, the European court sided with the British court system.

As Charlie’s case made its way through the courts, international attention grew. World leaders, from the pope to President Donald Trump, called for baby Charlie to have a chance for treatment at willing hospitals outside the U.K.

As international pressure and support for baby Charlie’s chance at treatment grew, Great Ormond Street Hospital announced that it was calling for a new hearing in light of “claims of new evidence relating to potential treatment for his condition.”American neurosurgeon Michio Hirano and a team of specialists were then given the opportunity to examine baby Charlie. Unfortunately, the results revealed that Charlie’s condition has left him with irreversible damage.

During the announcement to the High Court, Charlie’s mother gave a heartbreaking statement. It read, in part:
     "The last 11 nearly 12 months have been the best, the worst and ultimately life changing months of our lives but Charlie is Charlie and we wouldn’t change him for the world. All our efforts have been for him. This is one of the hardest things that we will ever have to say and we are about to do the hardest thing that we’ll ever have to do which is to let our beautiful little Charlie go."
     "Put simply, this is about a sweet, gorgeous, innocent little boy who was born with a rare disease, who had a real, genuine chance at life and a family who love him so very dearly and that’s why we fought so hard for him." 
     She continued:"There is one simple reason for Charlie’s muscles deteriorating to the extent they are in now—TIME. A whole lot of wasted time. Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner he would have had the potential to be a normal, healthy little boy."
     She also noted that: "Charlie had a real chance of getting better. It’s now unfortunately too late for him but it’s not too late for others with this horrible disease and other diseases. We will continue to help and support families of ill children and try and make Charlie live on in the lives of others. We owe it to him to not let his life be in vain."
     In closing, Charlie’s parents vowed:"We will do our utmost to ensure that no parents have to go through what we have been through and the next Charlie that comes along WILL get this medicine before it’s too late and Charlie will save many more lives in the future, no doubt about that."

Charlie’s battle for survival has received worldwide attention because his fight could be anyone’s fight. His parents’ fight could be the fight of any loving, devoted parent “prepared to do anything in their power” to preserve their child’s life. There is no love like the love that a parent has for their child. The love that Gard and Yates have demonstrated during Charlie’s short life will ensure that his legacy will live on in the years to come.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Melanie Israel is a research associate for the DeVos Center for Religion & Civil Society at The Heritage Foundation.

#2020 (7/24) "GOP Holds Military's Fleet to the Fire"

"GOP HOLDS MILITARY FLEET TO THE FIRE" - Tony Perkins, Washington Watch, July 21, 2017; http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA17G37&f=WU17G14

If liberals thought the debate over military sex changes was over, they underestimated the American people! Even Republicans have been stunned by the level of outrage over the policy, which has been lighting up phones on Capitol Hill since last Friday, when 23 GOP members agreed that $3.7 billion in transgender “treatment” was a valid use of taxpayer dollars. Those Republicans are almost certainly having second thoughts now, after hearing from their constituents, who can’t believe the GOP is letting Obama’s radicalism continue to dictate military policy!

For conservatives like Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), who’s led the charge against this dangerous distraction, the grassroots pushback is giving them all the motivation they need to keep fighting. Reenergized by the outpouring of support, she and members like Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) are more determined than ever to protect the military from an agenda that’s not only jeopardizing the future of national security, but compromising its present. “Steps must be taken to address this misuse of our precious defense dollars,” Hartzler told her colleagues in the lead-up to next week’s appropriations debate. “This policy hurts our military’s readiness and will take over a billion dollars from the Department of Defense’s budget. This is still an important issue that needs to be addressed.”

With the defense appropriations bill on deck for debate, Republicans are already warning the Pentagon that they aren’t going to approve the bump in spending -- not if the administration is willing to spend billions on treatments for people who shouldn’t be serving in the first place! As someone who understands the problem firsthand, Congressman (and Brigadier General) Perry explained to me on Wednesday’s “Washington Watch” just how backwards the policy is. In his own district, he says, he couldn’t believe the military would welcome the gender-confused while it turns away solid recruits like this young man:
     “[He’s] the kind of person you want carrying the squad automatic weapon (and guys who patrol will know what I’m talking about). Just desperate to serve his country in uniform -- but has a very mild peanut allergy. He’s barred from enlisting. He cannot join. And I juxtapose that situation -- this man wants to fight for his country and secure our freedom and liberty, and he’s not allowed to join. We can’t fix the broken backs of Special Forces soldiers at the VA… but somehow, we’re going to spend $3.5 billion for people to have their sex reassignment in the military, be off the job for a couple hundred days, not deployable, while they convalesce after the surgery. And then they require drugs, hormones, etc. if they do deploy -- yet this young man who wants to join but has a peanut allergy and might need something as simple as an [EpiPen] or anti-inflammatory, he can’t join… This doesn’t lead to readiness or enhanced strength, and I don’t know how you can make an argument that it does.”

Like some of his House colleagues, he’s amazed the GOP would go along with an agenda that makes special accommodations for unstable people like Chelsea Manning. “I don’t know what party I belong to when Republicans are in control of the House, we decide what gets put on the floor, and we don’t have the votes to pass an amendment in the House… To me, it’s very, very disappointing. We dealt with this kind of attitude for eight years under a president that I think was very counterproductive to national security in the military, and I think most of us thought when his term is over, that kind of attitude was over. But unfortunately, we’re fighting that fight among our own and that’s disappointing to say the least.”

After a rocky week with constituents, maybe some of the 23 Republicans have learned their lesson. When Vicky’s amendment to stop the flow of taxpayer dollars to gender reassignment failed, the GOP “spent a good chunk of a closed-door Republican conference meeting harping about what happened.” The outcome this time around, Politico speculates, might be far different. “The federal government has no business paying for that procedure. A lot of us feel very strongly about that and we want to have a chance to have that in the bill,” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) insisted. If that means a blockade of the increased funding for defense, so be it.

President Obama is gone. It’s time his extremism is too. Call your House member today at 202-224-3121 or email them here! Tell them to oppose the Make America Secure Act until the president makes our military sound.- http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=WA17G37&f=WU17G14

#2019 (7/23) SUNDAY SPECIAL: "Time to Thicken up the Church - Belonging to Something Bigger than Ourselves"

"TIME TO THICKEN UP THE CHURCH - BELONGING TO SOMETHING BIGGER THAN OURSELVES" - by: John Stonestreet & Stan Guthrie, Breakpoint.org, July 5, 2017; http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/27/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-could-fill-role-played-by/ [AS I SEE IT: "Thickening Up the Church" should mean more than having great fellowship events. It should mean people truly knowing and caring for each other, for the church being a place where people can be authentic and feel loved and accepted. When people leave a church,  there needs to be more of a willingness to ask, "Where did we fail to be the church?"- Stan]

Are our churches truly leaving a mark on people? Or another way to think about it: Are our churches thick or thin?

What’s the difference between a job and a vocation? Or a collection of people and a team? Well, according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, the difference is thickness. “A thick institution,” Brooks writes, “becomes part of a person’s identity and engages the whole person: head, hands, heart and soul.”

Brooks tells of the Incarnation summer camp in Connecticut where he worked as a young man. When a former Incarnation co-worker died recently, the camp community came together, reaching out to his relatives in their grief and to one another in theirs. One posted a camp reunion photo with the caption, “My Family.” As Brooks writes, “Some organizations are thick, and some are thin. Some leave a mark on you, and some you pass through with scarcely a memory. I haven’t worked at Incarnation for 30 years,” he said, “but it remains one of the four or five thick institutions in my life.”

According to Brooks, thick organizations—whether schools, employers, or something else—often share a physical location, where people meet regularly, face to face, and frequently, for a meal. Thick institutions often have and practice shared rituals—such as fasting or reciting a song or a theme.

There’s often what might be called a “sacred origin story,” and many members can tell of personal rescue or redemption, and usually can quickly articulate a common ideal—just think about Semper Fi for the Marine Corps. Membership is not a means to get something for themselves, but a way to be part of something bigger than themselves, for the greater good.

Now I find it interesting, telling in fact, that throughout this terrific description of “thick” institutions, Brooks never once uses the word “church” in his column. Isn’t this exactly what churches should be?

Think of the first-century church in Jerusalem as described in Acts 2 or the persecuted house church communities in China. The church was established by Christ to be the place of our primary relationships and loyalty, where individuals and families both invest of themselves and receive help, encouragement, rebuke and blessing. But in the age of “dating the church,” it’s too often a consumerist experience, in which leadership is forced to outdo itself each week to attract parishioners who are more shaped by consumerism than the Gospel itself. Some churches, so afraid of losing attendees, have embraced a consumer model that offers all kinds of life advice and programming, but little that is distinct from the culture.

A recent study revealed that growing churches are the theologically conservative ones: with leaders who believe that Jesus really rose from the dead, that salvation is only available in Christ, and following Christ calls us to culturally unpopular commitments. But it’s more than just the right beliefs; it has to be the right practices, too—inviting believers to embrace the faith once delivered through shared worship, repentance, and calling. And of course, by caring for one another.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said recently that Facebook can provide community and a sense of belonging like churches do. But Facebook is a thin community at best, an illusion of true community. As one online commenter quipped, Facebook won’t show up at your door with 50 casseroles after you have a baby or lose a loved one.

Being connected is not the same as being in relationship.And we ought to remember this, in an age of thin connections masquerading as thick, strong mediating institutions are the secret sauce of a strong civil society. They not only provide meaning for individuals, they’re necessary for a healthy citizenry. They do what government cannot: cultivate virtue and care for others, both of which are necessary for self-governance.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

RESOURCES
"How to Leave a Mark on People" - David Brooks | New York Times | April 18, 2017; https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/18/opinion/how-to-leave-a-mark-on-people.html
"Ask yourself, 'How thick is my church?'" - Marv Knox | Baptiststandard.com | April 19, 2017; https://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion/editorial/20198-editorial-ask-yourself-how-thick-is-my-church
"St. Zuckerberg? Facebook CEO says company can fill role played by churches" - Douglas Ernst | The Washington Times | June 27, 2017; http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jun/27/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-could-fill-role-played-by/

#2018 (7/22) PRO-LIFE SAT: "Despite Massive Hype and Billions of Dollars Embryonic Stem Cells Still Haven’t Cured a Single Patient"

"DESPITE MASSIVE HYPE AND BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS HAVEN'T CURED A SINGLE PATIENT" - David Prentice, P.H.D., JUN 30, 2017 | http://www.lifenews.com/2017/06/30/despite-massive-hype-and-billions-of-dollars-embryonic-stem-cells-still-havent-cured-a-single-patient/

Stem cells. Those words can conjure up many images for those who hear them: cures, death of young human beings, millions and billions of taxpayer dollars, lab-coated scientists, petri dishes, and patients with serious conditions—waiting, hoping, disappointed, or treated.

These varied and disparate images and thoughts come not only because the science of stem cells can be complex at times, but also because a great deal of misinformation has been, and continues to be, pushed out in the public realm. That misinformation often comes from scientists and politicians who hope to benefit from steering the public’s imagination–and dollars–toward themselves.

The annual NRLC convention has been a welcome antidote to some of this anti-life rhetoric regarding stem cells, the different types of stem cells, the real results especially with respect to patient outcomes, and the ethical questions that should be asked regarding any stem cell research. I enjoy discussing this topic of stem cells every year, because there are still many people, even many medical professionals, who do not know the truth about stem cells.

And people do want to know the truth, about trends in research and about developing therapies for patients. They also want to be armed with the facts against those who are interested not in helping patients, but in funding their laboratories and promoting their own careers.

Embryonic stem cells continue to be portrayed by some scientists as the ultimate stem cell therapy, despite the continuing lack of evidence for their efficacy, whether it be the few patients who have received injections of embryonic stem cells, or in the many lab mice and rats who have undergone embryonic stem cell experiments. Despite all of the promises about “lifesaving research” and the billions of taxpayer dollars spent on embryonic stem cells in the last two decades, there is still not a single validated case of “lifesaving” results with such cells.

Embryonic stem cells also face an insurmountable barrier for their acceptance by many people: harvest of embryonic stem cells requires the destruction of a human embryo, a young human life barely started on its existence yet the biological truth is clear: one of us. Gladly, people are not faced with the choice of accepting or rejecting an unethically-derived therapy.

Adult stem cells have been making good on the empty promises of embryonic stem cells for decades, yet continue to be ignored or defamed by proponents of embryo-destructive research. Yet the facts bear out their real answer as “lifesaving” cell therapy. 

Over 1 ½ million people have been treated with adult stem cells, and their lives saved and health improved for dozens of diseases and medical conditions. These are real people and real benefits, and continued adult stem cell research provides real hope for more and more people. Many of these adult stem cell therapies are still experimental, but they are validated in the published scientific literature as providing help to patients.

Within the past year there have been many advances in adult stem cell science, including new strategies and advances using adult stem cells to treat stroke (even years after the stroke event), multiple sclerosis (putting people into remission, not just stopping progression of the disease), and improving repair of both knee joints as well as damaged hearts. People need to know the truth: adult stem cells provide effective tissue repair, without destroying the life of the stem cell donor (who is often, with adult stem cells, the patient himself!)

As a scientist, I am fascinated by the wondrous complexity and capabilities of adult stem cells, other natural progenitor cells, and our human body. As a patient advocate, I am heartened by the results seen not only in the laboratory but also in the clinic with ethical, successful adult stem cells, and only wish for faster progress and more resources to bring about more and improved adult stem cell treatments, as well as increased accessibility to their benefits.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

#2017 (7/21) "I’m a Pediatrician. How Transgender Ideology Has Infiltrated My Field and Produced Large-Scale Child Abuse."

ATTENTION:  SCROLL DOWN  to get t today's article entitled in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. And PLEASE be sure to note the various PRAYER REQUESTS listed AFTER the posted article. They deserve  your intercession. THANK YOU.

BE Prepared TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ABORTION 

(...because ALL Babies Matter! - http://www.lifenews.com/2017/03/01/why-do-unborn-babies-matter-just-because-they-are/ 

: Go to: LIFE Training Institute - http://prolifetraining.com/resources/five-minute-11/  

Be Prepared TO ENGAGE WITH THE PC CULTURE:

Go to:"Tactics" - 

http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2016/04/29/tactics-n2154983
"Don't Argue the Exceptions - Beating Bad Arguments For Abortion and Transgenderism" - by John Stonestreet, Breakpoint.org, May 25, 2017; http://breakpoint.org/2017/05/breakpoint-dont-argue-exceptions/

URGENT PRAYER NEEDED:
1) UPDATE: 7/19- Senate FAILS To Pass Health Care Bill..for now. Let's continue to pray that it will finally Repeal and Replace ObamaCare soon. 7/12; The Senate will delay it's August recess by 2 weeks to hopefully finish work on many pieces of legislation. "Let's pray that they esp. pass some legislation to Repeal and Replace Obmacare and finally defund Planned Parenthood from the federal budget.7/2 - President Trump has called upon the members of the Senate to finally meet right after the 4th of July recess and vote to Repeal and Replace Obamacare. Let's be in prayer that our leaders will finally vote to do so and that it will finally lead to the defunding of Planned Parenthood by American taxpayers!

2) CHARLIE GARD - Latest UPDATE:/7/20 "Charlie Gard and His Parents Given U.S. Residency to Fly Him to America for Treatment," Micaiah Bilger, JUL 19, 2017; http://www.lifenews.com/2017/07/19/charlie-gard-and-his-parents-given-u-s-citizenship-to-fly-him-to-america-for-treatment/ "American Doctor Approved to Travel to UK in Charlie Gard Case," 
Charlene Burke, CBNNews.com, 07-14-2017; http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2017/july/american-doctor-approved-to-travel-to-uk-in-charlie-gard-case"Let's keep praying for a favorable decision!7/10 - "Charlie Gard Given a Few More Days to Live, Court Will Decide on Experimental Treatment Thursday" - Steven Ertelt, JUL 10, 2017, http://www.lifenews.com/2017/07/10/charlie-gard-given-a-few-more-days-to-live-court-will-decide-on-experimental-treatment-thursday/  Let's be praying for a favorable decision THIS THURS.!
7/7 -" UK Hospital Reconsiders Baby Charlie Gard's Death Verdict - Charlene Aaron," - CBNNews.com, 07-07-2017; http://www1.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2017/july/uk-hospital-reconsidering-its-stand-in-charlie-gard-case?cpid=EU_CBNNEWSPM Let's be praying that the UK authorities will finally decide to let Charlie's parents decide on his care, not the state.

3) Let's Continue to PRAY for Congressman Scalise and his family. "Steve Scalise Upgraded to 'Fair' Condition; Undergoes Another Surgery" - Christine Rousselle: Jul 13, 2017; https://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2017/07/13/steve-scalise-upgraded-to-fair-condition-undergoes-another-surgery-n2354664 "Steve Scalise Readmitted to ICU" - Christine Rousselle: Jul 05, 2017; https://townhall.com/tipsheet/christinerousselle/2017/07/05/steve-scalise-readmitted-to-icu-n2351035 - House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA) [wounded during the shooting of Congressmen several weeks ago] has been readmitted to the ICU after contracting an infection at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He is now in "serious" condition
Personal Update 7/13 - Check out the JOURNAL section in the column on the right side of this blog page. And THANK YOU for your continued prayers for me. [P.S. - Please check out the article" Intercessors Are the Rudder" at the beginning of the prayer section below as well as the revised section on the persecuted church ]

----------------------------------------------

"I’M A PEDATRICIAN. HOW TRANSGENDER IDEOLOGY HAS INFIILTRATED MY FIELD AND PRODUCED LARGE -SCALE CHILD ABUSE." - Michelle Cretella / July 03, 2017 / http://dailysignal.com/2017/07/03/im-pediatrician-transgender-ideology-infiltrated-field-produced-large-scale-child-abuse/

Transition-affirming protocol tells parents to treat their children as the gender they desire, and to place them on puberty blockers at age 11 or 12 if they are gender dysphoric. (Photo: iStock Photos)

Transgender politics have taken Americans by surprise, and caught some lawmakers off guard.
Just a few short years ago, not many could have imagined a high-profile showdown over transgender men and women’s access to single-sex bathrooms in North Carolina.

But transgender ideology is not just infecting our laws. It is intruding into the lives of the most innocent among us—children—and with the apparent growing support of the professional medical community.

As explained in my 2016 peer reviewed article, “Gender Dysphoria in Children and Suppression of Debate,” professionals who dare to question the unscientific party line of supporting gender transition therapy will find themselves maligned and out of a job. I speak as someone intimately familiar with the pediatric and behavioral health communities and their practices. I am a mother of four who served 17 years as a board certified general pediatrician with a focus in child behavioral health prior to leaving clinical practice in 2012. 

For the last 12 years, I have been a board member and researcher for the American College of Pediatricians, and for the last three years I have served as its president. I also sat on the board of directors for the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity from 2010 to 2015. This organization of physicians and mental health professionals defends the right of patients to receive psychotherapy for sexual identity conflicts that is in line with their deeply held values based upon science and medical ethics.

I have witnessed an upending of the medical consensus on the nature of gender identity. What doctors once treated as a mental illness, the medical community now largely affirms and even promotes as normal. Here’s a look at some of the changes.

The New Normal
     Pediatric “gender clinics” are considered elite centers for affirming children who are distressed by their biological sex. This distressful condition, once dubbed gender identity disorder, was renamed “gender dysphoria” in 2013. In 2014, there were 24 of these gender clinics, clustered chiefly along the east coast and in California. One year later, there were 40 across the nation. With 215 pediatric residency programs now training future pediatricians in a transition-affirming protocol and treating gender-dysphoric children accordingly, gender clinics are bound to proliferate further.
     Last summer, the federal government stated that it would not require Medicare and Medicaid to cover transition-affirming procedures for children or adults because medical experts at the Department of Health and Human Services found the risks were often too high, and the benefits too unclear.
    Undeterred by these findings, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health has pressed ahead, claiming—without any evidence—that these procedures are “safe.” Two leading pediatric associations—the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Pediatric Endocrine Society—have followed in lockstep, endorsing the transition affirmation approach even as the latter organization concedes within its own guidelines that the transition-affirming protocol is based on low evidence. They even admit that the only strong evidence regarding this approach is its potential health risks to children.
     The transition-affirming view holds that children who “consistently and persistently insist” that they are not the gender associated with their biological sex are innately transgender. (The fact that in normal life and in psychiatry, anyone who “consistently and persistently insists” on anything else contrary to physical reality is considered either confused or delusional is conveniently ignored.)
     The transition-affirming protocol tells parents to treat their children as the gender they desire, and to place them on puberty blockers around age 11 or 12 if they are gender dysphoric.
If by age 16, the children still insist that they are trapped in the wrong body, they are placed on cross-sex hormones, and biological girls may obtain a double mastectomy. So-called “bottom surgeries,” or genital reassignment surgeries, are not recommended before age 18, though some surgeons have recently argued against this restriction.
     The transition-affirming approach has been embraced by public institutions in media, education, and our legal system, and is now recommended by most national medical organizations. There are exceptions to this movement, however, in addition to the American College of Pediatricians and the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice. These include the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Christian Medical &Dental Associations, the Catholic Medical Association, and the LGBT-affirming Youth Gender Professionals.

The transgender movement has gained legs in the medical community and in our culture by offering a deeply flawed narrative. The scientific research and facts tell a different story. Here are some of those basic facts.
     1. Twin studies prove no one is born “trapped in the body of the wrong sex.”
Some brain studies have suggested that some are born with a transgendered brain. But these studies are seriously flawed and prove no such thing.Virtually everything about human beings is influenced by our DNA, but very few traits are hardwired from birth. All human behavior is a composite of varying degrees for nature and nurture.
     Researchers routinely conduct twin studies to discern which factors (biological or nonbiological) contribute more to the expression of a particular trait. The best designed twin studies are those with the greatest number of subjects. Identical twins contain 100 percent of the same DNA from conception and are exposed to the same prenatal hormones. So if genes and/or prenatal hormones contributed significantly to transgenderism, we should expect both twins to identify as transgender close to 100 percent of the time. Skin color, for example, is determined by genes alone. Therefore, identical twins have the same skin color 100 percent of the time.
     But in the largest study of twin transgender adults, published by Dr. Milton Diamond in 2013, only 28 percent of the identical twins both identified as transgender. Seventy-two percent of the time, they differed. (Diamond’s study reported 20 percent identifying as transgender, but his actual data demonstrate a 28 percent figure, as I note here in footnote 19.)
     That 28 percent of identical twins both identified as transgender suggests a minimal biological predisposition, which means transgenderism will not manifest itself without outside nonbiological factors also impacting the individual during his lifetime.
     The fact that the identical twins differed 72 percent of the time is highly significant because it means that at least 72 percent of what contributes to transgenderism in one twin consists of nonshared experiences after birth—that is, factors not rooted in biology.
     Studies like this one prove that the belief in “innate gender identity”—the idea that “feminized” or “masculinized” brains can be trapped in the wrong body from before birth—is a myth that has no basis in science.

2. Gender identity is malleable, especially in young children.
     Even the American Psychological Association’s Handbook of Sexuality and Psychology admits that prior to the widespread promotion of transition affirmation, 75 to 95 percent of pre-pubertal children who were distressed by their biological sex eventually outgrew that distress. The vast majority came to accept their biological sex by late adolescence after passing naturally through puberty.
     But with transition affirmation now increasing in Western society, the number of children claiming distress over their gender—and their persistence over time—has dramatically increased. For example, the Gender Identity Development Service in the United Kingdom alone has seen a 2,000 percent increase in referrals since 2009.

3. Puberty blockers for gender dysphoria have not been proven safe.
     Puberty blockers have been studied and found safe for the treatment of a medical disorder in children called precocious puberty (caused by the abnormal and unhealthy early secretion of a child’s pubertal hormones). However, as a groundbreaking paper in The New Atlantis points out, we cannot infer from these studies whether or not these blockers are safe in physiologically normal children with gender dysphoria. 
     The authors note that there is some evidence for decreased bone mineralization, meaning an increased risk of bone fractures as young adults, potential increased risk of obesity and testicular cancer in boys, and an unknown impact upon psychological and cognitive development.
     With regard to the latter, while we currently don’t have any extensive, long-term studies of children placed on blockers for gender dysphoria, studies conducted on adults from the past decade give cause for concern. For example, in 2006 and 2007, the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology reported brain abnormalities in the area of memory and executive functioning among adult women who received blockers for gynecologic reasons. Similarly, many studies of men treated for prostate cancer with blockers also suggest the possibility of significant cognitive decline.

4. There are no cases in the scientific literature of gender-dysphoric children discontinuing blockers.
     Most, if not all, children on puberty blockers go on to take cross-sex hormones (estrogen for biological boys, testosterone for biological girls). The only study to date to have followed pre-pubertal children who were socially affirmed and placed on blockers at a young age found that 100 percent of them claimed a transgender identity and chose cross-sex hormones. This suggests that the medical protocol itself may lead children to identify as transgender.
     There is an obvious self-fulfilling effect in helping children impersonate the opposite sex both biologically and socially. This is far from benign, since taking puberty blockers at age 12 or younger, followed by cross-sex hormones, sterilizes a child.

5. Cross-sex hormones are associated with dangerous health risks.
     From studies of adults we know that the risks of cross-sex hormones include, but are not limited to, cardiac disease, high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, diabetes, and cancers.

6. Neuroscience shows that adolescents lack the adult capacity needed for risk assessment.
     Scientific data show that people under the age of 21 have less capacity to assess risks. There is a serious ethical problem in allowing irreversible, life-changing procedures to be performed on minors who are too young themselves to give valid consent.

7. There is no proof that affirmation prevents suicide in children.
      Advocates of the transition-affirming protocol allege that suicide is the direct and inevitable consequence of withholding social affirmation and biological alterations from a gender-dysphoric child. In other words, those who do not endorse the transition-affirming protocol are essentially condemning gender-dysphoric children to suicide. Yet as noted earlier, prior to the widespread promotion of transition affirmation, 75 to 95 percent of gender-dysphoric youth ended up happy with their biological sex after simply passing through puberty.
    In addition, contrary to the claim of activists, there is no evidence that harassment and discrimination, let alone lack of affirmation, are the primary cause of suicide among any minority group. In fact, at least one study from 2008 found perceived discrimination by LGBT-identified individuals not to be causative.
    Over 90 percent of people who commit suicide have a diagnosed mental disorder, and there is no evidence that gender-dysphoric children who commit suicide are any different. Many gender dysphoric children simply need therapy to get to the root of their depression, which very well may be the same problem triggering the gender dysphoria.

8. Transition-affirming protocol has not solved the problem of transgender suicide.
     Adults who undergo sex reassignment—even in Sweden, which is among the most LGBT-affirming countries—have a suicide rate nearly 20 times greater than that of the general population. Clearly, sex reassignment is not the solution to gender dysphoria.

Bottom Line: Transition-Affirming Protocol Is Child Abuse
     The crux of the matter is that while the transition-affirming movement purports to help children, it is inflicting a grave injustice on them and their nondysphoric peers. These professionals are using the myth that people are born transgender to justify engaging in massive, uncontrolled, and unconsented experimentation on children who have a psychological condition that would otherwise resolve after puberty in the vast majority of cases.
     Today’s institutions that promote transition affirmation are pushing children to impersonate the opposite sex, sending many of them down the path of puberty blockers, sterilization, the removal of healthy body parts, and untold psychological damage. These harms constitute nothing less than institutionalized child abuse. Sound ethics demand an immediate end to the use of pubertal suppression, cross-sex hormones, and sex reassignment surgeries in children and adolescents, as well as an end to promoting gender ideology via school curricula and legislative policies.
    It is time for our nation’s leaders and the silent majority of health professionals to learn exactly what is happening to our children, and unite to take action.

[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]

Michelle Cretella, M.D., is president of the American College of Pediatricians, a national organization of pediatricians and other health care professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children.

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PRAYER MATTERS:

"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and trusting/resting in His love and grace to accomplish His perfect will in His perfect time and for His greatest glory." - Stan 

“INTERCESSORS ARE THE RUDDER” – A WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT - Wanda Alger, June 28th, 2017; https://www.getamericapraying.com/blog/

I was recently given a word by my good friend, Bill Yount. His word greatly encouraged me as an intercessor. Working for Intercessors for America, I soon realized it was not just a word for me, but for all who have been praying for our nation, wondering if their prayers are truly making any difference. Bill told me, “I kept seeing you as a small rudder on a huge ship. Hidden, but giving guidance. Although it seemed slow it was turning the whole ship. Patience was needed to see the impact of your…ministry. I sense the Lord saying, ‘Don’t jump ship! I’ve made you the rudder!’ ” I was immediately touched in my spirit by this encouragement, knowing that our seemingly small place in prayer was having a great impact.

James 3:4 talks about the power of a small rudder to steer a large ship. In this scripture about the power of our tongue, consider the power of prophetic intercession! In the Forerunner Commentary on this verse we read, “…rudders manipulate the course of immense ocean vessels with a slight movement of a pilot’s hand. Since it is underwater and aft, the rudder of a ship does its work UNSEEN. A passenger is ignorant of its movements most of the time. Yet, when it is in proper working order, the rudder holds more power over the ship than the wind. The wind will blow, toss, even destroy the ship’s rigging, but the rudder guides the ship exactly where it directs.”

This is God’s promise to the intercessors in this hour of national turbulence. Don’t stop praying! Your prayers have great power to turn the ship! Continue praying, interceding, and discerning the workings and movements of the Holy Spirit, being faithful to God’s commands. As we come together to declare God’s faithfulness, this nation will, once again, head in the direction that God intends. Don’t give up and don’t give in. Regardless of the winds of adversity and the fires of the enemy, God’s people have a power that cannot be matched. Let us join in faith and continue to pray and speak of God’s faithfulness in order to bring God’s people and this nation into the fullness of God’s plans. Note this additional encouragement from God’s word:

Colossians 2:15 – “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (ESV). 

Psalm 33:8-11 – “Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. The Lord foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” 

Wanda Alger, IFA Field Correspondent

PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14) Short of that, we should not be saying "God Bless America"but instead "God be merciful towards America!"

PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS:  1) Pray for President Trump and his advisers, that they would select Godly leaders at the federal level who will be accountable to do an excellent job (or be fired!) ; that he would seek God's wisdom and be enabled to lead our country effectively in the years ahead; and 2) Pray our leaders at every level of government will Spirit-filled, leading us with Godly wisdom and integrity; that they will  only pass legislation and enact policies that will benefit Americans today as well as future generations and NOT do any lasting harm.

SUPREME COURT: PRAY that the justices will only hand down decisions that are Constitutionally sound and in the best interests of our country now and for future generations.

World-Wide Prayer Requests:

[from OpenDoorsUSA] REFUGEES

CHURCHES: "And He is the head of the body, the church." -  Col. 1:18a
July 15 | PHILIPPINES: Pray for a Seventh Day Adventist church threatened with arson if they did not stop construction.
July 16 | TAJIKISTAN: Pray for a church under investigation for having children and teenagers in their service.
July 17 | IRAN: Pray that any officials who are persecuting Christians will love mercy, act justly, learn about Jesus and choose to follow Him.
July 18 | SUDAN: Pray in favor of an appeal that will try to block an order by the government to demolish 27 places of Christian worship.
July 19 | PAKISTAN: Pray for churches still affected by the aftermath of the Lahore attack. Pray that they might rebuild their communities.
July 20 | NIGERIA: Pray for Christian communities of Kafanchan and Kagoro, in southern Kaduna, who continue to face Fulani attacks.
July 21 | TURKEY: Pray for the Church. Christians are often labeled as traitors because of their faith.
July 22 | MALI: Pray for the safe return of Gloria Nevarez, a nurse from Colombia, who was kidnapped.
July 23 | MALAYSIA: Pray for the wife and children of a man who went missing one morning.
WOMEN:"My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." - Ps. 73:26
July 24 | BHUTAN: Pray for Sister Martha. She recently learned to read and is excited to share her faith with others.
BELIEVERS: Romans 6:4
July 25 | TAJIKISTAN: Pray for Sahat*. He was arrested during outreach, when he shared the gospel with an officer of the security service.
July 26 | PHILIPPINES: Pray for male believers. They are being taken from the streets at night and not seen again.
July 27 | MALAYSIA: Pray for the believers who are voting on a law that will greatly affect their faith.
July 28 | INDONESIA: Pray for those affected by the homemade bomb that went off at a school in West Java.
July 29 | SUDAN: Praise God that President Omar al-Bashir released a Christian aid worker who was sentenced to 24 years in
prison for charges of spying and inciting hatred.
July 30 | SOMALIA: Pray for believers who risk death if their faith is discovered.
July 31 | INDONESIA: Pray for those involved in the chaos that resulted from a regional election. Three men died, homes were burned and hundreds of locals were injured.

STANDING STRONG THROUGH THE STORM - OpenDoorsUSA.org

At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.  2 Timothy 4:16                                                 

Speak On Behalf Of Those Who Suffer

    

The Apostle Paul knew exactly what it was like to be alone, to be deserted by all who called themselves “brothers” and “sisters.” A former colleague who has done considerable travel among the persecuted says, “It is hard to believe that Christians are the largest persecuted group in the world today. But it is even more difficult to believe that this is so seldom mentioned in our gatherings and church services. More Christians know the names of their favorite actors than their fellow believers who are in prison.”

He continues, “With every trip something in my heart breaks as I hear the echoes of suffering:

I remember the echoes of an Egyptian mother as she shared how her young boy was stuck in a haystack because she refused to deny Jesus.

I remember the sounds of weeping as fellow students in Indonesia shared how Sariman, their co-student, was hacked to death.

I remember the cries of anguish as we walked from church to church that was burned to the ground on the island of Lombok.

I remember the tears of Rebecca in Iran as she showed the picture of her father who was stabbed to death for sharing the gospel.

I remember the voice of Pastor Daniel in Vietnam as he shared how he was chained to the ground for six months.

I remember the fear of Grace from Sudan as she shared how her church was attacked and her friend was shot through the head.

Oh, I remember the cries of Caleb in Eritrea as he shared with tears how two dear friends were executed in front of him because of their faith.

And I remember the tears of Joy in the southern Philippines as she shared how her fiancé was shot to death in their church in Mindanao.

But, most all, I remember the deafening sounds of silence every time I return home.

RESPONSE

How can I be silent today? How can I not speak on behalf of those who suffer? How can I desert those that belong to the same body that I belong to and who desperately need the encouragement of my intervention on their behalf?

PRAYER

Lord, broaden my awareness of the needs of my suffering brothers and sisters. May I not be known for my silence.

PRAY for the ON-GOING crisis now happening in IRAQ/SYRIA.  Pray that coalition forces will be able to destroy the leadership and infrastructure of ISIS.*For believers in Syria and in this region as they navigate so much uncertainty. May they remain faithful to God through these most difficult times as He sustains them with peace and endurance. May the gospel be ever-present in their minds.