They Call Me Teacher; He Calls Me His Child

I recently came across the journal entry copied below which dates back to the first year I taught STEM classes to 3rd through 6th graders. The entry was a timely reminder, so I thought I would share it here as well should I ever need to be reminded again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The theme of my STEM class today centered around air pressure differentials. As we performed various experiments in class to aid student discovery, the students' big takeaway was as follows:

When areas of high pressure meet areas of low pressure, the higher pressure pushes harder causing cool stuff to happen." 

The burning candle uses up air molecules reducing air pressure inside jar.  The air pressure outside of the jar is much greater, so it pushes the water down, forcing it up into the jar.

I shared how we all face seasons of high external pressure, whether it be persecution, loss, sickness, or any array of external stresses. But as believers, we also have a wonderful type of pressure that comes from the heart and was placed there by God. "Christ's love compels us." (2 Corinthians 5:14). 

I've been in a season of high external pressure lately with today being especially difficult, but thankfully, the love He has given me for those students is greater than those external pressures, so I was recharged and ready to go before class began. As I crushed a cup in class to illustrate what happens when the pressure outside is greater than the pressure inside, I thanked God for this truth:

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

After completing various activities to demonstrate competing pressures, particularly as it relates to the weather, I took the kids outside to meet their parents where we all discovered a very unexpected snowfall. Low pressure meets high pressure, beautifully illustrating what I had been trying to teach the students and sending a clear message of grace from our merciful Father. "Why are you feeling squeezed my child, when You know I hold all things together in my perfect, loving, all powerful hands? Rest in Me."

When His power meets the pressures of this world, He pushes harder, and cool stuff happens, amen?

"Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) 

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." (Romans 8:37)

Colors of Heaven

The Bible's descriptions of Heaven and of God's glory include so many brilliant colors with rainbows of light and gemstones except in Heaven the rainbows are full circles instead of half circles, for in Heaven we will not just see in part, but in whole. (Reference Ezekiel 1:26-28; Revelation 4:3, 10:1, 21:9-21).

So given God's love for brilliant tapestries of color, I find it interesting that whenever we give the kids at church coloring sheets, they tend to color them with rainbows of different colors, regardless of what color that animal or object may actually be on earth.

I'm with the kids.....let's bring glimpses of Heaven into our daily lives....through the power of His Spirit who lives in us, and may we look for splashes of His glory through the beautiful colors (especially as we build relationships with people of different skin colors) all around us.

For further study on the colors of heaven, I recommend the study developed by Glenn Pease found here.

When the answer is "No! Not Yet! I want to add more sin first!"

Today, I was volunteering in the 4-year-old class at church when the teacher gave one of my favorite object lessons. She had the kids use a Sharpie marker to scribble black lines onto a mirror. The kids looked at their reflection in the mirror with the black marks marring their reflection. The black lines represented sin. The kids were given a towel and challenged to try to wipe away the black lines (sin). No one could get even a speck of black mark off the mirror. Sharpie markers leave behind permanent ink after all.

Then the teacher took a red dry erase marker and drew a cross over the black scribbles to represent Christ's blood shed on the cross to atone for our sins. She asked the kids if they could wipe off the mirror now that it was covered in Christ's blood.  As expected, the red dry erase ink pulled off the permanent black ink, illustrating how only Christ can remove the weight of our sins with all the bondage, guilt, shame and death that comes with them.  But before the teacher let the kids wipe the mirror clean, she asked for volunteers, and one child quickly cried out, "No! Not Yet!  I want to add more sin first."

How many of us have wanted to come to Christ in repentance but delayed because we weren't done sinning yet, preferring to pile on as much sin as possible before surrendering our will to Him in genuine repentance?

That same child who really just wanted to color some more on the mirror grabbed the mirror after the lesson and kept staring at herself, focused intently on her reflection. So I considered how when we keep postponing Christ's offer, what we see in the mirror keeps getting darker and darker to the point that we can't even recognize ourselves anymore. What we then reflect to others is just random black scribbles, darkness with no clear direction, order, or beauty. Why wait to receive Christ's cleansing? We never know when it might be too late to truly repent!

There are pastors all over America and right here in my own county who are lying to their members about God's standard for righteousness. They falsely claim that certain sins condemned by God in Scripture (not man-made sins condemned by the Pharisees), even the Ten Commandments, no longer apply today. They encourage members to keep piling on more sin. Romans 6, Hebrews 10:26, and 1 John 3:6 all speak directly to this deception, warning believers against false teaching that will keep them from true repentance which leads to forgiveness, light, love, abundant life here on earth, and life everlasting. 

^"If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left." (Hebrews 10:26)

Do not be deceived. Let His blood wipe you clean!

“'Come now, let us settle the matter,' says the Lord. 'Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'" (Isaiah 1:18)

How to Discern What is True in this Deceptive Information Age (Part 1)

Long before the digital information age when basic Judeo-Christian values formed the foundations of much of American culture and life, discerning fact from fiction was far less complicated. Information was limited.  Prayer and Biblical precepts guided family, church, and civil discussions, while authorities were considered to be informed and trustworthy.

Today, information is thrown at us like water from a fire hydrant, except instead of putting out fires, the information ignites and fuels them.  Anyone with internet access can pretend to be an authority on the subject, regardless of age, experience, education, or qualifications, as they post information that naive readers will deem as being as trustworthy as expert analysis.  Conflicting information shapes the internet, especially with regard to religion and politics, and navigating it seems overwhelming at best. Fact checking websites like Snopes, PolitiFact, and Factcheck.org have promised to show us the truth, but they have also been called out for bias or deceptive cover-up.

As moral relativism became more pervasive leading people to reject the absolute truths found in God's word and even the universal moral law, simply discerning moral truth has become confusing for many.  Moral relativists insist that what is right for you does not have to be right for me and vice versa as long as we show tolerance for one another.  But when a terrorist killed 50 members of the LGBT community in Orlando, what seemed right to the terrorist was completely intolerable by most Americans while Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration defended Islam and refused to call it a terror attack even though ISIS proudly took the credit. No one seems to know what is true in the culture, in the media, or even in their own individual hearts.

Now that we are nearing the climax of the most scandalous, outrageous, pivotal presidential election cycle of the century with shocking degrees of corruption, deception, power brokering, and injustice being exposed almost daily through inflammatory, conflicting headlines, Americans often wonder if there is any truth to be found anywhere. Is there anyone we can trust to be honest?  How do we discern what is true in a such a deceptive information age?  How do we teach the next generation to rightly discern the truth?

There are no easy answers to these question, for discernment only comes from God, but there are at least some general guidelines or questions to consider to help encourage critical thought and to avoid common pitfalls that come when we exchange the truth for a lie.   The ability to discern truth is useful in many different contexts, but for the sake of simplicity, I would like to address just two of them:
 
1) Discerning between fact and spin in the media
2) Recognizing false teaching within the Christian church

Receive Salvation Through Christ
In both contexts, Christians must remember that God is the source of all truth and wisdom. He reveals His truth to us through Christ and by the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who choose to follow Him. We cannot discern truth apart from Him.

....grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(John 1:17)

True wisdom is not available to us until we choose to believe that Jesus is the promised Messiah and put all our trust in Him. Then His Spirit begins to guide us according to His truth.

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  (John 8:31-32)

Do not be surprised when the wisdom God gives seems foolish in the eyes of the world, "for the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom" (1 Corinthians 1:25).  Jesus repeatedly called the Pharisees "blind" (five times in Matthew 23 alone) because they were lost, unable to discern spiritual truth. So it was fitting that following Paul's dramatic encounter with Christ and conversion to Christianity, scales fell from his eyes to remove both his temporary physical blindness and his spiritual blindness. The Spirit of God helped him to truly see. (Acts 9:18)

Pray
The prerequisite for discerning truth is salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. The first and most important step as a believer seeking to grow in wisdom and discernment of the truth is to pray.  Ask God to give you the wisdom you need, fully believing that He give it to you generously.  Also pray for an objective mind on issues not clearly addressed in God's word so that you will not let your personal preferences cloud your judgment.

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. (James 1:5)

Also intercede for others, especially the younger generations who must carry the baton of faith and truth and light after us. 

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,  (Colossians 1:9)

Seek Wisdom Above All Else
We honor and please God when we seek His wisdom over anything the world offers us instead.  Consider how God rewarded Solomon when God offered to give him anything he wanted, and Solomon only asked for wisdom.  

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. (1 Kings 3:10-12)

Build Critical Thinking Skills Through Guided Inquiry
After establishing that God is the ultimate source of all wisdom and discernment, I would like to offer some practical questions that anyone can use to help recognize deception in the media.  Considering these questions can be very time consuming, especially given how much information we must filter each day, but they will help us come closer to recognizing what is true and what is false.  Knowledge builds upon itself at an ever increasing rate, so as we build upon a foundation of truth, filtering becomes faster and easier as we go.
 
1.  Consider the source of the information.

• Was the information obtained in an unbiased way?  Biased collection methods do not provide reliable results.  (Note: Removing bias from political polls is extremely challenging, while skewing polls on purpose is quite simple.)
• Does the provider have sufficient expertise, firsthand knowledge, and statistical aptitude to accurately collect and present the data?  If the author has had no way of obtaining accurate knowledge of the subject he's addressing, he probably doesn't have any.
• What lurking variables could be influencing the data? Are they stated and reflected in the information presented?
• Does the presenter have a history and reputation of being trustworthy and honest?
• Is the information provider characterized by transparency and a willingness to take questions or undergo validation/investigation as needed? 
• Does the provider of the information have unchecked power that minimizes accountability?  Unchecked power usually leads to both corruption and deception.

2.  Consider the purpose of the published information.

• What benefits (money, promotion, fame, influence) might the provider receive by convincing you to believe the information presented? The richer the reward, the more questionable the information may be.  Follow the money.
• Are the inferences and conclusions derived from the information consistent with the context of the information or has it been manipulated to steer thoughts toward an intended outcome?
• Is the purpose for publishing the information helpful, good, and pure?  Does the purpose honor and respect life, or does the purpose involve anything akin to deceiving, stealing, killing or destroying that which is good?  God is the source of all truth, the creator of life and the giver of all that is good, while Satan is the father of lies who seeks to steal, kill, or destroy that which is good.   If the motives are sinister, the information is likely intended to deceive.  If the motives are pure, reflecting God's good character, then the information is more likely to be reliable. 
• Is the information presented in a way that seems overdone or too convincing?  If so, the provider may be trying too hard to convince you of something that isn't true.

3.  Consider the context of the information.

• Is the information taken completely out of context and used in an unrelated context? (This error commonly occurs when trying to justify wrong choices or opinions using Bible references or legal statutes.)
• Are the conclusions derived from the information consistent within the context in which it is being applied?
• Are any pertinent details conveniently left out of the presentation of the information to lead the reader to a desired conclusion?  Usually, the more details that are provided, the less likely it is that important information is being intentionally left out.  Conversely, too much unnecessary information may be added to distract the reader from the information the provider hopes they will ignore or miss in the midst of all the other details.

4.  Are the conclusions drawn from the data Biblical, rational, plausible, and reasonable?

• Any information that contradicts Biblical truth should be dismissed. God's truth never changes, and He cannot deny Himself.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is and should be dismissed as false.
• If any publication sites original sources, be sure to check the original data. Are the other details surrounding the information consistent with the conclusions made and consistent with other sources already deemed reliable?  Consistency across sources renders the content more believable. (Note: This method of comparing transcripts found in many different regions over a wide span of time was also used to affirm the authenticity and reliability of the Biblical canon.)
• Do the details and conclusions follow a logical progression?
• Are the conclusions from the data consistent with basic economic principles, scientific law, and lessons learned from similar scenarios played out throughout world history?
• Does the author offer you free stuff? Nothing is ever free. It will cost you or someone else dearly in the long run.  Who will pay for it? It is good, right, and fair for them to pay your share? If it is the least bit questionable or makes you uncomfortable, do not assume it is true.
  

5.    Is any reliable counter evidence available?

• Counter evidence must be more verifiable than the information itself to override the information's credibility. For example, the Biblical creation account cannot be overridden by the theory of evolution since neither has been established as scientific law. The theory of evolution certainly has more holes with probabilities far too impossible to take seriously, so while the creation account offers more credibility, empirical evidence using scientific methods cannot prove that which cannot be replicated and can only be accepted by faith.  
• An example of counter evidence would be Comey's FBI investigation summary detailing the findings of the FBI's systematic investigation of Hillary Clinton's email scandal which countered public testimony Clinton made in defense of herself. In this case, FBI documentation detailing her crimes would override her comments, which would have been much more likely motivated out of self-protection that out of a desire to be honest, especially given her history of excessively lying.
• The emails posted by WikiLeaks during the current POTUS campaign, however, have not been presented with any counter evidence.  Despite being embarrassed by the public posting of his private emails which included derogatory comments, Colin Powell never denied them. Debbie Wasserman-Shultz  and CNN Contributor Donna Brazile were forced to resign as a result of WikiLeaks revealing their roles in campaign rigging, which provides further proof of their legitimacy. With evidence to support the validity of the WikiLeaks and no evidence thus far to counter them, they can be assumed to be reliable.

It's impossible to provide an exhaustive list of questions to consider, but as we ask the Spirit to guide us, He will lead us to the right questions to ponder.

I help students build critical thinking skills by using guided inquiry to help lead them to their own discoveries or to the answer for a mathematical or scientific problem problem.  The more they practice applying inquiry to various real life situations, the sharper their critical thinking skills become and the better able they are to derive the right answer.  Similarly, I believe it helps to regularly practice guided inquiry (that is, asking ourselves the types of questions listed above) when presented with conflicting information to help ourselves and those we mentor/teach to grow in godly discernment.

I'll share an example I used with my 12th grade Statistics students to illustrate.  The following graph shows the number of women who died as a result of the abortion procedure using statistics compiled by the National Center for Health Statistics. This graph was published by The Alan Guttmacher Institute in a document entitled Trends in Abortion in the United States, 1973-2000, January 2003.

If you know that Roe v. Wade was passed in 1973, then this graph would lead readers to believe that legalizing abortion resulted in fewer deaths for women, and that is exactly the point that the author was trying to make by presenting this graph. 

After seeking the Lord and praying for His wisdom to guide us as we examine the information, we would then begin asking some of the suggested questions.  Consider the source of the information.  Who is Alan Guttmacher?  What does the Institute named after him do, and what is the purpose for this information?  A quick Google search provide us the following information about Alan Guttmacher:

• He was an American obstetrician/gynecologist who founded the Association for the Study of Abortion in 1964, so he should be knowledgeable enough to discuss death rates for pregnant women receiving abortions. 

So far so good.

•  He served as president of Planned Parenthood and vice-president of the American Eugenics Society.   He founded the American Association of Planned Parenthood Physicians, now known as the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, as a forum for physicians to discuss the birth control pill and other advances in the field. He was a member of the Association for Voluntary Sterilization. The Guttmacher Institute is named after him. In 1973 Guttmacher was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto II. 

This second set of information should immediately alert us to his bias is it presents him as being pro-abortion and pro-eugenics.  He is a secular humanist who could not possibly value the sanctity of human life given his life's work in abortion, birth control, and sterilization.  His motivation is clearly to promote abortion as being good for society, so immediately this graph becomes suspect. Biblical truth also leads us to mistrust the information because it is being applied in the context of supporting the murder of innocent babies, something God's word condemns.  Instead of having a purpose that is good, pure, and right, it's purpose is to promote death and destruction.

Next, consider original data and consistency. The CDC publishes all these statistics on-line, so this graph could be reconstructed using data directly from the CDC website. This comparison would show that The Alan Guttmacher Institute did provide an accurate representation of the original data.  The National Center for Health Statistics is supposedly an objective source without any pro-abortion bias, so that cross reference checks out as being valid.

Now let's consider context. CDC data collected for health purposes is being placed in the context of a pro-abortion publication to argue that abortion reduces death rates for women. That may not seem like too much of a context shift, but consider what other lurking variables could have influenced the drop in death rates.  Observe the graph more closely. Why did death rates drop before Roe v. Wade was passed?  That decrease in death rates may account for the decrease after Roe v. Wade.  What would the graph look like if we expanded the time line to back further into history?  These questions could be answered by going back to the CDC data to expand the graph over a longer period of time and by noting related medical advancements by year to establish any possible lurking variables.

By searching the internet for counter evidence, we find that the enhanced graph including pertinent medical details and data going back 25 years earlier is already available, and it presents a very different message.  This graph utilizes the same CDC data but over a longer time line.  It also includes other variables impacting the data and the dates for each.

Source: ProlifeAction.org

This graph shows the most dramatic decline in death rates between 1940 and 1950 and attributes that reduction to the introduction of sulfa drugs (antimicrobial agents) and penicillin (antibiotic used to treat infection).  The graph doesn't site a cause for the rise of the number of deaths around 1960, but the sexual revolution of the 60s and the careless lifestyles likely increased the both the overall number of abortions performed and the risks associated with them.  By 1972, the year before abortion was legalized by the Supreme Court, the maternal death rate during abortion had fallen to 39 per year, less than one per state.  Thus, legalizing abortion cannot be credited with abortion survival rates.

It should be noted that I found this counter evidence on the website of a pro-life activist organization which would certainly introduce biased motives.  The graph was actually used on the floor of the U.S. Senate during hearings on abortion in 1981, but it was not challenged by abortion supporters. 

Given that it provides more information and that the motivations are for life and consistent with Biblical truth, it is deemed more reliable than the first graph presented from a pro-abortion graph.

This exercise was lengthy to illustrate each of the key considerations, but discerning truth is not always so cumbersome.

When discerning between Biblical teaching and false teaching within the context of the Christian church, we have the advantage of the unchanging, perfect, authority on truth, the Bible. The next post will provide tips for determining if a teacher's messages are Biblically accurate or ungrounded in the truth and therefore destructive to the family of faith, leading others astray.

Guard Your Thoughts

 ^“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV)

Out of all of God’s magnificent creation, only mankind was created in His own image (Genesis 1: 26-27) with a mind like His that can think, reason, feel, express emotion, and make choices.  In Genesis 3, we first see this battle of the mind in action as Eve allows the serpent to fill her mind with doubt, deceit, and sinful desires.  Since Eve did not guard her thoughts, she chose sin which gave way to death. (James 1:14-16)  Battles are constantly raging in our minds, so we must always be prepared to defeat the enemy’s lies with God’s truth.

To guard our thoughts effectively, we must put on the mind of Christ. (Philippians 2:5) Having the mind of Christ requires that we first know God and the truth as revealed in His word.   When we accept Christ as Savior and surrender to His Lordship over our lives, we receive new life and His Spirit indwells us, enabling us to guard our minds.

^“The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

God desires to fill us with His truth which will deflect any arrow of deceit the enemy may hurl at us.  God commanded His people in Joshua 1:8 to meditate on His Law day and night and to obey all of it so that they may have prosperity and success.  The Lord promised His people that when the Messiah came, He would write His law in the minds and hearts of His people. (Jeremiah 31:33)  It is imperative that we know His law well, without adding to it, distorting it, or taking away from it, so that we may quickly recognize any falsehood and dismiss it before it takes root in our minds.

God’s word also teaches us what should consume our thoughts. We are to study what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy. (Philippians 4:8) Those who are trained to identify counterfeit money study authentic currency instead of various counterfeits until they know the real currency so perfectly that any deviation from what is truly genuine becomes blatantly obvious.  When we meditate on God’ truth and reject falsehood, our thoughts are kept secure.

In addition to knowing God personally and understanding His word, we must guard our thoughts by fixing our minds on Jesus and trusting in Him completely.   As long as our minds are focused on Jesus, we will experience God’s perfect peace.  (Isaiah 26:3)  Let us not to rely upon limited human understanding, but choose instead to submit to Him.  (Proverbs 3: 5-6) When we trust in Him and seek Him through prayer, He will guide and guard our thoughts. 

In addition, must regularly renew our minds with God’s truth as He transforms us into His image.  (Romans 12:2)  Writing in a journal has been a beneficial tool for me personally.  Writing out His truths helps me remember them.  Meditating on these written truths impresses them on my heart.  Through prayer, God has revealed personal applications of those truths in my life which I have recorded in my journal.  As I reflect over these journal entries, I see God’s direct answers to prayers and am reminded of His faithfulness which helps me trust Him more.   Seeking honest accountability from trustworthy, faith filled friends adds another hedge of protection as we strive to guard our thoughts and keep our minds renewed in Christ.

In Ephesians 6:10-17, we are reminded that the biggest battles that rage against us in, around, and against us are spiritual in nature, so therefore, we must put on the full spiritual armor of God.

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

As shown in the diagram below, this armor consists of five pieces of defensive armor (salvation, righteousness, truth, faith, and peace), and only one offensive weapon, "the sword of the spirit which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17b).  Our defensive armor protects us from fatal blows by the enemy of our souls, and the assurance of our salvation covers our mind.  Between battles we may stow our sword in the belt of truth, but when the enemy taunts us with lies, waging battles against our minds, we must wield the sword, turning every advance against us back onto the enemy with the word of God. The word of God is what kept temptation from wounding Christ in the wilderness, and the word of God will push back  the lies, accusations, and fears Satan hurls at us back upon him where they belong.

As an epilogue, I have shared a sample list of common lies we women often hear and truths from God’s word to refute each lie.  This list has been a useful resource for me as I struggle daily to defeat Satan’s lies with the truth, taking every thought captive to obedience to Christ.

Satan's Lie:   It’s hopeless and impossible.
God's Truth:  All things are possible through Christ (Luke 18:27)

Satan's Lie:   No one loves you.
God's Truth:  I love you perfectly forever.  (John 3:16, Jeremiah 31:3)

Satan's Lie:   Life is overwhelming, so give up!  
God's Truth:  My grace is sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9) 
                      I will help & deliver you. (Psalm 91:15)

Satan's Lie:   You can’t do it. 
God's Truth:  In Christ, you can do all things. (Philippians 4:13)  

Satan's Lie:   If you try, you will fail.  
God's Truth:  I will equip you to abound in good work. (2 Cor. 9:8)

Satan's Lie:   God let that happen, so He is not good.
God's Truth:  God works all things together for good.  (Romans 8:28)   

Satan's Lie:   God can’t forgive you for that.   
God's Truth:  Confess, and I will forgive you. (John 1:9)

Satan's Lie:   You can’t forgive yourself.    
God's Truth:  There is no condemnation in Christ. (Romans 8:1)

Satan's Lie:   You aren’t smart enough.   
God's Truth:  God gives wisdom.  (1 Corinthians 1:30)

Satan's Lie:   You are all alone. 
God's Truth:  I will never leave or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)

Satan's Lie:   Value comes from external beauty.  
God's Truth:  Your inner beauty is of greatest worth. (1 Peter 3:4)

Satan's Lie:   You aren’t lovely or special.   
God's Truth:  You are wonderfully made. (Psalm 139: 13-15)

Resources for Additional Study
 Lies Women Believe:  And the Truth that Sets them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss

The Mind of Christ by T.W. Hunt

This post was adapted from a devotion originally written for the women's ministry at pray.org

Feminism Dogma in Higher Education Gone Mad: STEM Syllabi Deemed Sexist Because Women Cannot Think Logically Based on Facts

Laura Parson, doctorate candidate at the University of North Dakota tried to argue in her dissertation that STEM syllabi are sexist because she believes that women are not biologically capable of thinking logically or scientifically in terms of static knowledge.  See also Joy Pullmann's evaluation of the dissertation in her piece entitled, "Feminist PhD Candidate:  Science is Sexist Because It's Not Subjective".  My kids attend a tiny, average private K-12 school where seniors are required to present and defend a thesis to graduate.  Laura Parson, who should be far more educated as doctoral candidate than our young high schoolers would FLUNK if she submitted this dissertation for her senior thesis project our kids' school due to lack of any sound reasoning, logical arguments, or understanding of truth at all.  Check out the full paper here for yourself, or view Page 12 below as a sample.

The biggest flaw in her research is far too common in modern progressive academia. True science is examining, testing and building knowledge around what we already observe to be true. Science cannot and was never intended to be used as a way of proving what our opinions want us to believe is true. Replacing inference with opinion turns any attempt at true science into junk science.  Big words with no logic are like a large mouth disconnected from a face or a head.

Well no wonder there is so much gender confusion these days.  STEM syllabi are sexist in her view because they require women to use the scientific method and do not allow students to view science as being dynamic.   So apparently now feminists believe both moral truth and scientific truth are relative.  When will gravity cease to be a law so we can start floating and flying like hippies on an LSD trip?

So, given that I teach students how to think critically, have excelled in STEM fields, regularly use the scientific method, and specialize in systematic, logical problem solving as a consultant, the doctors who cried, "It's a girl" must have been wrong. And my two kids' births are more miraculous than we ever realized. Wow!

What gender am I then? I certainly don't want to identify with the modern day feminists' definition. I don't consider myself to be a piece of meat as Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, and Lady Gaga suggest. The bacon dress said it all. I'm not a dog willing to perform dumb tricks to get people to notice me and throw me a bone or a dog treat as most feminist celebrities (Lena Dunham especially) suggest with their sudden displays of nudity or shocking headlines to turn the spotlight back on them. I'm not interested in bashing men but would prefer to encourage and inspire them to become their personal best. My husband is the perfect complement to me. He is strong where I am weak and supports me in using my strengths to build up the weak.

I don't want any of those degrading legal protections or special treatments just because I'm a woman. Make me work as hard as any man to reach the same goals because the struggle is what makes me stronger and what makes the prize worth having.

I'm so much more than my body parts. I am also a mind that never stops thinking, a heart that never stops loving and caring, and a soul that will never stop living. I was placed on this earth for a perfect purpose that does not involve sitting on a display shelf expecting natural scientific laws to change as often as my feelings and moods do.  My purpose involves making an eternal impact on the lives of others. It also consists of growing in prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude as I grow in intimacy with the God who made me and saved me. It is a joyful purpose which keeps me in awe at God's goodness, mercy, righteousness, and love.

"So God created mankind in his own image,
  in the image of God he created them;
  male and female he created them.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  (Genesis 1:27-28)

This PhD candidate is majoring in education. Look out world because this woman and those who have been indoctrinated as she has will be molding the next generation to believe that women are idiots and that truth is relative.

Maybe....just maybe...she should not assume that just because the entitlement culture has failed to teach her critical thinking skills, the difference between unchanging truth and ever-changing feelings, or personal responsibility, she should not assume that all women are as she is.

Learning spiritual truth from a little boy and his experiment with ice, water, and air

On the way home from school, my 4th grader said, "It seems like ice melts faster in water than in air even when the temperature of water is cooler than air. Is that true? If so, why?"

So as soon as we got home and before I could finish unloading the van, he had already set up the experiment. He used identical bowls, a meat thermometer to measure the temperature in each bowl, metal tongs to transfer the ice so as not to add different degrees of heat by handling the ice with his hands.  He made sure the bowls and ice cubes were identical, recorded the temperature of each, and set a timer.  I'm not teaching STEM this semester and miss it, but my eyes got misty as I watched my little scientist test his hypothesis.  He soon observed that the ice cube melted completely in the bowl of cooler water before the same sized ice cube had barely begun to melt in a bowl of air.

So we began the process I love so much of asking questions to figure out why ice melted faster in a cooler environment than in a warmer one.  We built on knowledge gained during the last semester to discover the factors affecting heat transfer coefficient.

Then we considered what his discovery might reveal to us about God and/or spiritual truth. (Yes, I tend to spiritualize everything because God created all things to reveal His glory and because it makes life, discovery, and exploration much more fascinating.)  So we compared the references to air and water in the Bible, taking special note of references to "living water".

The term "air" is found in Ephesians 2 which describes Satan's work of hardening the human heart so it will not melt.

 "And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest."  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Then my sweet boy noted that an icy heart would melt more easily if submerged in living water. John 7:38 teaches us that for the one who believes in [Christ], ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."

When Christ returns as conquering King to throw down the evil one (the prince of the air), He will come swiftly, just as air molecules move faster than water molecules, and those who believe and possess the life of Christ (the living water) will meet Him in the air and live with Him forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18) With all those water molecules in the air reflecting the glorious light of the Son, imagine how splendid that rainbow will be.