This is not part of the series of Deuteronomy that we are going through in the morning, although when we do return to this verse, Deuteronomy 22, verse 5, some time from now, I will be going through my normal commentaries, quite a few of them, and giving even more attention and study to this passage. But I think I have studied it enough to preach on it. And I am compelled to preach on it based on something that came across my computer this week that alarmed me. I don't make a regular practice of preaching about things in contemporary culture. I have sometimes, I have over the last year, but I largely like to stay with exegetical series because they cover everything in due season. But there are times when it just seems appropriate to preach about something going on. And I think this is one of those times. And that is why I am at this verse tonight. Deuteronomy 22, verse 5. Hear now the word of the Lord. The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment. For all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. Let me read it once more. The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. I had to take our Toyota Sienna to the dealership this Monday, and I was surprised that in the men's bathroom, above each of the men's urinals was a sign that read, don't throw paper towels in the urinal. Management. And that was it. I thought, well, that's kind of blunt. No please and thank you. I said, probably because it's a problem. And it's probably there. There's a reason for it. A Marine who used to be a member in our church transferred back to Texas a number of years ago said, speaking particularly of the military and all kinds of different rules, you might be surprised, why would we need a law about that? Isn't that common sense? Isn't that obvious? Why would we need a specific law about that? He says, if there is a rule, there is probably a reason. They have already had to deal with something. And so now it has been made explicit. So there must be a reason God lists this odd behavior here for the law of his people before they enter the promised land. Why? And if you look at the context, I'm sure there is some overlap we'll look at later, but it almost seems like the Proverbs. There's just these various laws that are kind of placed in different places. It seems to just mostly stand on its own. Why is it here? It seems to come out of left field and go as soon as it's over. Why does God have to tell us that men should not wear women's clothing and that women should not wear men's clothing? Why does God have to tell us something like that? Certainly we agree that the work of the law, natural law, is on the hearts of all people. We all recognize that men and women are different and thus we should be dressing differently according to our gender. Or do we all recognize that? God has already dealt with homosexuality and other sexual aberrations from Exodus through numbers, including bestiality. And once again, why would we need to be told that? Well, the same Marine said, when I was overseas, I can tell you why. People do such things. And by his testimony in broad daylight, Why this specific command about only wearing gender-specific clothing? Well, Jonathan Gill explains some of the context. I'm going to belabor you with some background context of Canaan and the area, the place they're coming from in Egypt, the place they're going in Canaan, and why probably it's necessary to say something like this to God's people before they enter the Promised Land. Jonathan Gill explains the law may be opposed to the custom of the Egyptians. a potential to take on their influence with them. They were greatly influenced all that time in Egypt. There's many things, you know, they wanted to go right back to Egypt plenty of times. They wanted to make those golden calves pretty quickly, right? Some argue this was particularly opposed to Egyptians or against women, especially going to war. And we're gonna look at them more later. And I do think there's probably a, I don't think it's limited to this, but I think that there is some evidence that it's particularly concerned with war. The concern that women would take up men's armor and men's weapons as they did in the East. Or you can think of like the Vikings, the understanding is women would go to war and take up these shields and be the iron maidens. And there's a warning, women are not to do such things. That could make sense since they were about to go to holy war in Canaan. And if you remember the instructions in Numbers, the women were to stay behind with the children. They were not to fight with the men. They were not to fight like the men. The men were to protect them. This is probably why the Hebrew word for men in this verse is unusual. When I was looking at the Hebrew, I was surprised. This word, Geber, I don't remember this very well. I have to review. I'm surprised it's not Ish. Normally, the word is ish for man in the Hebrew, in distinction from isha, woman, ish, man, isha, woman. Pretty, pretty basic there. I mean, it's not that there's never a different word used for man, such as adam, but usually it's ish. in contrast to Eshah. But the lexicons make it clear, the word twice used here for man in our verse, look at Deuteronomy 22 verse 5, where it says, the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man. And then later, a man shall not put on a woman's garment. Both times that Hebrew word is not Esh, it is Geber. And that word has a more specific connotation. It means mighty. forceful, strong young man, warrior. It means man in distinction from women and children and non-combatants who he is to defend. So it really does seem like, as we will consider also in a moment, some of the other words that it's particularly concerned with the idea of military combat. That a woman should not be pretending to be a man and a man should not be dressing like a woman and then look weak and unfit to protect us. Jonathan Gill goes on to say, heathen writers noted that they would make their soldiers who deserted their armies walk around the marketplace dressed like women as a punishment. basically saying, oh look at you little girly man, you wimp, you deserted the army, you ran from your responsibilities from your fellow soldiers in war, so now we dress you like a woman and parade you around like the woman that you're like. Effeminate and afraid, cowardly. Also, the heathen writers said that there are many accounts of the worship of Venus by men. making sacrifices to her in women's garments, and women worshiping Mars in men's clothes, especially when the women did that wearing, again, war armor, the epitome of what a man might wear, the most masculine form of men's clothing, you could say. The Assyrian priests would dress like women offering sacrifices to Venus, and during a feast to Bacchus, men disguised themselves like women. Sometimes women and men did this both to Venus because she was thought to be both man and woman. And so the idols that represented her often depicted her both as man and woman. I can't help but joke for a moment, as an aside, it would seem to me that soon, with all this confusion, the book, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, will surely be banned. How dare they suggest there's any distinction or difference? Psychologically, let alone physically. In his article, Reconstructing Meaning in Deuteronomy 22, verse 5, Gender, Society, and Transvestitism in Israel and the Ancient Near East, Harold Torger Velder shares a number of helpful overlapping insights into why do we need this command for Israel. He says, using the Hebrew word for man, geber, rather than ish, illustrates an important nuance in the Israelite conception of masculinity. He points out the text is not ruling out the potential need of a woman wearing a man's coat to survive, making it through the wilderness. So there's plenty of times where I take my lovely wife out for dinner, and because she, don't tell her I said this, she almost never listens to me when I tell her to bring something so she doesn't get cold. Oh, I'll be fine. We're going to be by the water. This is San Diego. I know you like to think it's hot. It's always cold at night by the water. And so what happens? I say, come on, take my jacket, and I have her wear my sport coat, and then she's nice and warm and it's cute. That's not what the scripture is forbidding. If there is a need to survive wearing a man's cloak through some kind of isolation in the wilderness, this is not what God is talking about. What is he talking about? Well, Vedler goes on to explain, it is forbearing, excuse me, it is forbidding wearing clothes that deliberately confuse genders by mimicking the other in some way. It is a deliberate wearing of something that confuses. So you know what it's like. I'm not sure if that's a boy or a girl. That's very long hair. I'm not sure if that's a boy or a girl. That's very short hair. And the way they're dressed is androgynous at best. I'm not sure. You ever been to those experiences? More and more? Just going through the checkout line? Some are just not so good at being able to hide it. You know, plenty of whiskers sometimes and along with that eye shadow, five o'clock shadow, so to speak. But, you know, generally there's times where it's like, it's not really clear. And even if they're trying to hide it and they can't, obviously they are trying to confuse. They are crossing over. There is a deliberate effort to pretend to be a woman when you're a man or a man to be a woman. He points out that the root word for transvestite in our modern English comes from the root cross. And that's where we get the word cross-dressing or cross-dressers. He says to understand this verse, we must understand the context of the ancient Near East. Again, Israel is about to go in and take Canaan. In Deuteronomy, God is renewing the covenant peace treaty. He's reestablishing the next generation as still his people, still obliged to his law. He reviews his law, but he applies and updates aspects of it to their situation as they're about to go in and take Canaan. They are God's people. They are about to take the land, but they are not to be taken on. They're not to be taken by the land's practices. That's why they're supposed to get rid of the people because of all their sinful atrocities. And this would seem to be one of them. He points out there is little evidence of transvestism elsewhere in Hebrew Bible or other material from ancient Israel. We don't really see much about this in the Bible. It doesn't seem to be much of an issue. But as they're about to go into Canaan, they need to have it said. There's evidence of both transgender behavior and or mythology in neighboring Canaan, Mesopotamia, and Egypt. Well, they've come from Egypt. You ever see how some of those people are dressed? Some of the old pictures, even the men with all the eyeliner. I mean, it's hard to tell them apart. There's a lot of femininity in some of those things. They're coming from there. Mesopotamia, also the broader area, but Canaan is where they're going. Now here's an example from Egypt, and he shares this, Vetteler shares this, when Pharaoh Hatshepsut, now forgive me, I have no idea if I've said that even remotely closely, in the 1400s BC, when she, a female pharaoh, seized power, she had herself depicted with a beard and a male kilt. That's like, you know, children in Scotland, the men wear those kilts. And a man's crown, yet her body had no breasts. That's the way she wanted herself to be depicted in the pictures of her as the victorious pharaoh, now pharaoh of Egypt. She said, give me a beard when you draw me. Give me a man's crown and don't give me any breasts in the picture. Transvestitism was more commonly found in Canaan, and that is where they're about to go, and Mesopotamia. almost in all their cultic gatherings or worship. So this is something that's significant. Nobody really did this outside of cultic worship. Nobody went around dressed like men or women in the marketplace. It tended to happen in worship. Around Ashtorete and Inanna and Ishtar, the latter false god who could change women into men and could change men into women. So reflecting that, just as they would worship their fertility gods and have prostitution in the temple, when they were worshiping these gods who could change men to women, women to men, they would dress accordingly. They would act out these things. Not normally outside such context, though. As transvestism was part of the religion of Israel's neighbors at that time, he continues, it had to be excluded from the cult of Yahweh. And when you hear that word cult, don't always have the wrong connotation with it. I'm not sure about Spanish, but in Portuguese, the word for worship is cult. And so there is the cult of Yahweh, the true cult, the true God, and they are not to have anything like this in their worship, anything to do in this in their practices or their identity. It's being said because it's something that's happening and where they're going to go. And don't we know when they go into the promised land, they don't get rid of anybody, and they so often take on the worship practices and the false gods of the people there. Outside of worship would probably not have been in view in this command or applied because no one did this outside of such situations. Simply worship and then that concern for war. Women ought not to be going to war, taking on the most masculine form of attire, armor, weapons. Now, that relates to the other aspect of our verse, the Hebrew word for garment related to what a woman could not wear in terms of taking on something that belongs to a man only to wear. It could easily be translated utensil or weapon. Again, when you consider that with the word Geber, a mighty, strong, young man warrior distinct from a woman or a child, That makes a distinction of the sexes as it relates to gender roles in war. That would seem to be part of the idea. I think it's very safe to say the other concern is the whole cultic worship stuff going on in Canaan. They're not to mimic. The women and children, excuse me, the opposite concern is that men should not show themselves to be weak to do their job of protecting the women and children by dressing in a feminine manner. Hey, we have a huge concern about this in our military, don't we? Oh, we're supposed to even support with our tax dollars sex changes with our military. Are you kidding me? That's the kind of person you want defending you in war? I don't think so. And neither should we be putting our women in harm's way. There are physical realities of how God has made men to be the ones to protect. You never see the women going to war. Oh, you might see a few exceptions along the way in a tent with a stake posted through a man's head. You might see some pretty amazing warfare songs by the women, but the men go to war and they protect the women. Do you want someone who's dressed in drag going out to fight for you? I mean, maybe the only way it might work to protect us is that everybody would fall over laughing in the enemy's side of things. Are you kidding me? What a joke. We don't need our men going out to fight in tutus. What a joke that would be. Now there's the argument from the lesser to the greater here, or the greater to the lesser. If that's the case, then just as much this holds true for men and women in general life. They are not to dress the same, so as to distinguish between their different gender roles in society, family, church, and state as God has created and designed them to be in a normally sane, functioning world. which we are becoming less and less of as a nation and as we the people. God forbids transvestitism as a horrid evil against him. And it needs to be said. It needs to be said now. And that's what our verse teaches you tonight. That's the main point of the text. Plain and simple, God forbids transvestism as a horrid evil against him. When men wear women's clothes, when women wear men's clothes, when there is a confusion of the sexes, let alone our bathrooms. Let alone our bathrooms in our children's schools. This is a horrid abomination before God. And we keep making it law in our nation. We keep making it normal. We keep excusing it away and watch their entertainment to plague us into thinking this is normal. One commentator says, the divine distinction of sexes was to be kept sacred in civil life by clothing particular to each sex to be sacredly observed. It's a similar distinction. to what we are supposed to do with our hair. First Corinthians 11, the New Testament says men are to have short hair and women are to have long hair. And Paul's argument is this is basic nature. We know this from nature. We don't even need the Bible to teach this to us. He says this is such common sense from the work of the law in our hearts. In that context, women are to wear coverings over their hair in worship in the cult of Yahweh, and men are forbidden to wear hats in worship. I don't go into all of that now other than to say Old and New Testament God makes very clear that a distinction between genders outside of inside and inside worship is very important to him. It's fundamental. It's elementary. It's foundational. And how many people, including in the church, want to dismiss the very obvious language and exegesis of such texts because we do not want to submit to God. We do not want to submit to the way he has made things. We do not want to submit to the way he has made man and the way he has made woman. And the way that we are to function and relate to one another in a normal, sane society. Our society is more and more on the border of insanity. I remind you of the sermon I preached on Leviticus 19, verse 27. Godly grooming gives a witness. And if you go back and look at the context of that verse, which does bring in 1 Corinthians 11 as well, but if you go looking at the context of that verse, I would remind you that this female pharaoh in Egypt, when she took the throne, wanted herself to be depicted with a beard. Speaking of hair and gender distinctions, it's interesting to me that a woman is running for the Republican gubernatorial office in California as the quote-unquote conservative Christian option. She is a pastor. She has a picture there with her husband who served in the military. Three of their five children, beautiful children, three of their five children are boys, and the oldest two have very long hair, as long if not longer than their sisters. It's interesting to see that the way they make it clear that these are boys, because of course, the younger ones, you're kind of not sure, right? Because they have such a baby face. Is that a boy or a girl? I'm not sure. Because look how long the hair is. I don't know. But the way they made it clear is, what can you think of? What can you guess? How was it made obvious these long-haired boys were not their daughters? How did they distinguish between these boys and these girls? Because the girls were both wearing matching pink dresses, and their boys were wearing suits with ties. because at least they understood that. But a woman running for office, and I know I'm stepping on toes here, but we'll get to some scriptures in a moment, who also says she's a pastor. There are so many violations of God's basic scripture, including the way her children are representing themselves. but she's the conservative Christian option to run for governor in California. Well, that's not all we're gonna talk about. God forbids men portraying themselves like women, and he forbids women portraying themselves like men. It is cultural confusion. Are our children not confused? Does it not shock you? I just saw the newspaper recently that they're saying we've got to have sexual education classes for our gay children in school. It's not fair. They don't have it. Where are they getting these ideas? They're being confused by these cultural violations of cultural norms from creation. It will only contribute to further confusion and sin in our people with homosexuality and other debauchery. Of course, our children aren't safe in all other kinds of horrific ways when people's minds become so debased. Jonathan Gill also shares this. Since in nature a difference in sexes is made, it is proper and necessary that this should be known by a difference of dress or otherwise many evils might follow and it would lead the way to many impurities. Well, he sure hit that nail on the head. Or are you not reading the news? So we see transvestitism lumped in with all the other letters of LGBTQ, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, so much related to transvestitism, and queer. Mental sex identification, different than the physical sex at birth, which often expresses itself in transvestitism, dressing like the opposite sex than one is. And I would remind you where we see this predominantly in a dangerous way because it is intended to make us accepted in our entertainment. And let's not kid ourselves, it is nothing new. It is in all of your generations if we think for a moment, transvestitism. And it's intended usually to make us laugh. And would you remember what politicians say? The first goal is to make someone laugh. Because as soon as you have people laughing with you, you have gotten their acceptance. Gender misrepresentation is an incredibly arrogant shaking of fists against the creator who made them men and women. Psalm 100, remember verse 3, it is he who made us and not we ourselves. Thus it is he who has designed us and not we ourselves. Romans 1, 26-28 says that confusing sexes in sexual relations is the natural end of the slide of sin downwards. When we get to the place where homosexuality becomes more and more the norm, it is a sign that God has given us over to ourselves already. It is the greatest judgment. What came to Sodom and Gomorrah? It can begin with playing parts and having parties that confuse gender. Matthew Henry writes, they were properly forbidden, for the adoption of the habilements of the one sex by the other is an outrage of decency, obliterates the distinctions of nature by fostering softness and effeminacy in the man, impudence and boldness in the woman, as well as levity and hypocrisy in both. And in short, it opens the door to an influx of so many evils that all who wear the dress of another sex are pronounced an abomination unto the Lord. Perhaps you're wondering, does that mean that women can't wear pants? Wait for it. I haven't studied that yet. But that'll whet your appetite to come back for Deuteronomy later on. It's a relevant question. Now, as I say that, my women in my family wear pants that I haven't felt compelled to tell them not to. But these are the kinds of things we should be thinking about. Because there's no mistaking gender when we're careful. So as much as we might enjoy certain TV programs of yesteryear, when a man dresses as a woman, it's not funny. And it should immediately be turned off or skipped. I mean, there's a lot of times in past generations where your TV programs have men parading around in women's dresses, pretending they're women, and it's supposed to be a joke. And it is what God says is an abomination. It should make us shiver and turn it off. But that's not something new, and it's not something new in entertainment. In fact, that's where it particularly reveals its confused evil head. How abhorrent that the LGBTQ movement has a pride month and has stolen God's covenant symbol of the rainbow. By the way, I just today thinking about it have thought about an important witnessing track I'd like to make to the homosexual community with the rainbow. Pride cometh before the fall. And how great will that fall be for a nation where this becomes commonplace and promoted in the parties of conservative circles? You can almost not watch an advertisement for a product without seeing a man kissing a man, or a woman kissing a woman, or a man with his arm around another man dressed like a man, or a woman with a woman, or you're not sure what you're looking at. It is almost commonplace. It's more likely that you will see that than you will not. Flashed before your eyes to be accepted with other things considered more normal, to make it normal. and transvestites only a few years ago, do you remember, were welcomed into our public libraries to read books to our children. Thankfully, one pastor representing his church in Chula Vista, we were there, Rachel wanted to be there to see some government. And thankfully, we were there when a pastor gave a long message to the leaders. I don't remember exactly what council or commission it was, crying out to them, this is not the kind of thing that should be tolerated in our public libraries. And they were calling upon them with the scriptures. And you could see some of them with their judgmental smirks. Similarly, you know the Blues Clues children's program, that cute little blue dog? I'll never have my kids watch again. There is a video song with a drag queen in cartoon form leading with Blues Clues, the children singing for Pride Parade. A drag queen in the Blue's Clues cartoon is saying, come on children, let's sing about our pride as they show daddies with daddies and mommies with mommies and all kinds of other things. My understanding is by one pastor commentator, including when there's many mommies and daddies in one family, that's a big thing now. No problem. But a drag queen, a man dressed like a woman in cartoon form, was singing with the children with blues clues, which is an incredibly, hugely influential popular children's program. In fact, I was reading a book by Malcolm Gladwell analyzing other aspects of it, and it went way beyond Sesame Street, because it perfected what Sesame Street didn't as a refined science of how to reach and affect children and get their attention. and train their thinking and behavior. And God says, this is an abomination. Now see how he uses that word abomination a little while before. Turn to chapter 12 of Deuteronomy with me. Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 31. He says, when a man dresses like a woman, or a woman dresses like a man, it is an abomination to God. Abomination. How does he use that word here? Thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God. For every abomination to the Lord, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods. For even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. These people that you're going to go take their land, you must be nothing like them, especially in cultic worship. They are so evil. They are so debased. that they actually sacrifice their children. We're talking a living sacrifice. They literally put their children as a sacrifice at the altar to their false gods. They literally burn their children. Much could be said about that about another law on our land that allows us to kill our children at the altar of me and prosperity and money and convenience. But notice, the same word used for literally sacrificing our children in the altar of false worship, literally giving them up to death in false worship, is called abomination. And rightly so. And it's the same word God uses when we teach our little girls to dress like boys and our little boys to dress like girls. And they get to the point down the road where this is all confused and it just sinks deeper and deeper. I remind you of another sermon in Leviticus, sexual sins always sink lower. As you watch the way his laws come out and where they end in bestiality, which follows homosexuality, which follows other sins we might be less likely to criticize, but they're all sins of adultery and fornication. They get worse and worse and worse. So a people gets worse and worse and worse in their minds when they tolerate such things. When they endorse such things, when they won't speak against such things, we confuse our children, we confuse ourselves, and we don't understand it is abomination to the Lord. It should make us shudder. It should make us tremble when we know God's word. If such is an abomination to God and upon our children, then why do conservative Republicans in California host an event last Monday that includes such a person for a potential candidate to be our governor? On Flag Day, no less. During Gay Pride Month. Why is this not the concern of so many Christian Republicans? Now, I'm not speaking about other parties because obviously that doesn't need to be said, but it needs to be said about this. This Monday, June 14th, live from the Republican Party of San Diego gubernatorial forum and central committee meeting, looking to take out Governor Newsom. That was the whole idea. They interviewed the different candidates vying to do so. Among them was Bruce Jenner. I refuse to refer to him by his fake female name. He's a man. He's destroyed his body, he's still a man. The testosterone testifies within his blood, regardless of what he tries to pump there to change things. Previously an Olympic gold medal champion of male decathlon competition, he is now a 70 year old man dressing as a woman. and making a lot of money promoting it in various television programs. He has had surgery on his genitals to try to pretend he's a woman as much as he can below the belt. He receives hormone therapy, quote unquote, to feel and look like a woman. But when you hear this interview, his voice sure still sounds like a man. And when you see his picture, he sure still looks like a man. I wonder, did he refuse Father Day cards today from his three children? Because where did they come from? Not his womanhood. His wives didn't father them. How can the Republican Party tolerate such an abomination? The host of the radio program said they were concerned mainly regarding economics, and there is the problem. They are only concerned, we the people are only concerned with money. And we'll sacrifice anything at that altar, including morality, while we still try to parade people and say they're Christians to represent us. And all of their evils. The host also said that Bruce Jenner was special. And the host said that it was an honor to interview him. though the host referred to his fake name and feminine gender identification. It wasn't even a consideration. Now, to be fair, there was one question of Bruce Jenner, what about our children? Do you believe that this is the kind of thing that should be in our schools? Do you think that children should be allowed to have sex changes until they're 18? He said, no, I don't believe there should be any rules that don't allow a child to have sex changes before they're 18. He did say, oh yes, I believe parents have to be involved, they have to be under control. But he didn't think there should be any law to not allow children to do that until they're 18. Now, the host also said, I used to think I was a man. And she said, as I got older, I started to rethink things, and now I identify as what I am, a woman now again. But she never said it was wrong. In fact, she said, hey, when they're adults, you can do whatever you want. Hey, Rachel, could you double-check the camera, make sure it's okay? And that's okay, no problem. You can do whatever you want. That was the answer. This is the interview with this man, and I'm just baffled. I have more to say on that in a moment, but consider that Deuteronomy 22, verse 5 is not our only concern. Isaiah 3, verse 12 is, which says, when a nation is ruled by a woman, it is a sign of God's judgment and abandonment. So, how much more, when a man is dressing as a woman, is it not incredibly an abomination unto the Lord that he would want to rule our state? And he, as the host, their only concern was money. And it was amazing to hear them complain about having to wear masks, as if this was the horrible sins upon our nation and our leadership. This man masking himself with woman's hair and makeup and dress. We have a problem, a big problem. John Knox wrote a strong treatise against this many centuries ago as monstrous, that is unnatural to have women in office. How much more unnatural And how much more worthy of God's judgment when the person seeking to lead our state, and apparently no one has a problem to question it, is a man in women's clothing? Surely a wolf in sheep's clothing, and no one is saying anything. I mean, this conservative Christian option, shouldn't she at least have said something about this if she's representing Christianity? Nothing. This is not just a Democratic Party issue. Ungodly wickedness is pervasive across both party lines who have given themselves over to the gods of this world and the spirit of this age. Even in the Presbyterian Church in America, there is a major re-voice problem. They're dealing it in the highest courts. They're having conferences over this. What do we do? Because they're now trying to talk about homosexual gay identity as a normal thing not to be questioned. It's supposed to be a conservative Presbyterian denomination. It begins with, among other things, dressing strangely and confusing identity. Letting our boys play with girls dollies and watch Barbie cartoons on TV. Someone asked me recently, do you think that's a good idea? They're having their little one-year-old boy, all the boys together are watching Barbie cartoons. And they got their son a girl's doll to sleep with. I said, no, I think it's a real bad idea. I think it's a huge mistake. unless we like our men to be like women so we can run their lives, which I'm not so sure many women are not entirely interested in doing. I remember we were watching a series on the development of children over the first few years, and one of them episodes showed a mom and a dad holding hand in hand their little boy, dancing around, walking around as they were going across a bridge in New York City as he was wearing a dress. Sometimes he likes to wear a dress, sometimes he doesn't. We just let him explore and find out who he is. You're supposed to teach him who he is, not confuse him about who he is. You don't give him options. You teach him God's created order. We've got to be careful we don't do those things that we end up letting our girls do the man's job and take on their risks of responsibility. Regarding idolatry in the Second Commandment, Justin Poythress warns, this is the real potent idolatry of our age, the assumed neutrality of secularism. It's never neutral. It's always looking to take us over. Regarding the first commandment in another article, Justin Poitras writes this, I would point to one particularly ugly manifestation of American evangelical idolatry, political power. Our Christian moral consensus or Americanity has evaporated in the last generation. Before I continue, I highly recommend a book to you, Believe Me by John Feah. He continues, John Poythress, as if watching the sad but familiar and all too predictable sins of the father passed down to the children, we see the evangelical church taking up the playbook of our 16th century Roman Catholic forebearers. As political power wanes, there's a mixture of both healthy and reactionary reforms, coupled with the desperate striving to hold and regain the strings of politics. We forget Jesus' crystal clear rebuttal to Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. He continues. I increasingly feel the need for Christians to repent of rather than deny the charge of politicization. In fact, we've moved to the point where identifying evangelicals with a political bloc is less of an accusation than it is an assumption. And yes, for most of us evangelicals, this means we've sold our souls to the conservative right. But it's not as if the minority of evangelicals on the left have avoided this error. Their solution is still framed, if only implicitly in political terms, Christians should slide towards center, then all would be well. But what we're dealing with tonight is not center, though it's trying to be forced there upon us. Center stage, if you will. The Sacramento Bee had an article that quoted Melissa Michelson, a professor of political science at Menlo College and an expert on LGBTQ rights. And she said this, as the cliche goes, partisanship is a hell of a drug. If a Republican voter is looking at choices on the ballot and they see that little R, Republican, next one's name, for many Republicans, that's far more important than somebody's gender identity. Is it not? Wasn't even questioned as wrong in this interview. For a leader of our state, the fifth largest economy in the world, where Hollywood just up the road is defining morality to the masses, not only in our country and especially to our youth around the world. So we already have Gina Roberts, a San Diego County Republican making history last fall when she was the first transgender Republican elected to public office in California. We already have a transvestite in Republican office. This wouldn't be the first. Why isn't the Christian community up in arms about this kind of nonsense? Because they're so distracted with such nonsense this last year. And they don't understand what really matters to God. Do you think God thinks wearing masks, navigating through problems that we face with our health concerns, do you think he considers that an abomination? What he considers an abomination is when nobody cares that we have potential leaders, some already in office, who are men dressing like women or women dressing like men, let alone being homosexuals, which we also have plenty of those in our office. What should concern us the most? Here, I'll tell you what should concern us the most. This is why I'm preaching about it today, beloved. How did I learn about this event? through an interview by The Answer radio station in San Diego. The Answer is the name of the radio station. It's a conservative talk show. Loves to rub shoulders with the moral majority, often confused with Christianity. It's owned by Salem Communications. Yesterday on the same station from 6 to 7 p.m. It ran a program, opened the floodgates, Bibles for Africa. I suppose Deuteronomy 22 verse 5 might have been omitted, whited out, I don't know. Or just like most people do with the Sabbath, just completely ignore it's there. That's the next law we're gonna look at when we come back to the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy. Salem also owns KPRZ, the Christian radio station, the main Christian radio station in San Diego. They own The Answer, and they own KPRZ. The word Salem is a Bible word for peace. It's supposed to be its identity. You know, I had a friend working for them many years. I used to work for Salem. in Pittsburgh, and by the way, the talk show host got ousted many years ago because he spoke against the Pope in the Catholic Church, and they got rid of him. The Protestant, supposed to be Protestant, radio station conglomerate got rid of him for daring to question the Pope. Made national news. People on national TV programs were driving him in limos to be interviewed by the local stations for national programs. My other friend who worked for that station for many years went to seminary with me, a dear friend. He recently left it. He said he got tired of Salem being more and more secular, especially in the digital programming environment he was working with. He just got tired of it becoming more and more secular. They make a lot of money off of preachers, don't they? We know. They make a lot of money off of those Bible programs. They are getting paid to run those Bible programs. They don't do that for charity. And so the same station, the answer, owned by Salem Communications. Yet the biblical morality of this man demanding and displaying himself to be a woman was clearly irrelevant. to Salem Communications and the Republican Party who likes to use the word Christian in the same phrase. So many who are prostituting Christianity for their own sinful avarice. And the power and the peer pressure is enormous never to question them. But here's what really concerns me about how I found this out. Our churches, KPRZ, the Christian radio station, more explicitly Christian programming owned by Salem, our representative, who was checking in to see are we ready to yet start our programming, which costs a lot of money. And we have been interested in doing that as we have in the past. She sent an email out. checking and saying, oh, by the way, I'm going to send another email. I can't wait to tell you about an event we just had. And then that email went out to all of her clients and possible clients celebrating the company's first event, live event that we attended in 14 months because of COVID. Ah, we finally get out there. And the first event we got to do was this gubernatorial candidate event. Like it was a great party to participate in, I couldn't believe it. Especially when you click on the link that she provided to listen to the recording of the answers interview that the Christian radio representative sent. The photo that you see, when you click on the link, here's what happens. On your internet browser, a picture comes up where you can hit play and you can listen to the whole program. And the whole time you just see this stationary picture. And what is the picture? What is the picture that they chose to represent the entire event on this program that our representative for the Christian radio station is celebrating, is promoting? It's a picture of that radio host with Bruce Jenner behind her on the mic. And I'm saying to myself, I think I'm in the twilight zone here. What is going on? How in the world does my Christian radio representative highlight this to me when they should be trying to hide it? Why don't they at least try to pick one of the other candidates for the picture to represent the entire event? Not only that, if you go to the Answers website radio page and you click on this talk show host program and you look at the day for this event, the same picture is there of this man dressed like a woman with long hair who has destroyed his genitalia to try to pretend that he is not what God made him, who wants to run our nation. And they don't just make decisions on the economy, beloved. Are you kidding me? They will make decisions to push the lifestyle on top of us until we shut up for good and give our children over to their altar. Or why is he, whatever he thinks he is saying, he sees himself as the most important, most popular representative of transvestitism in this country and the world? Do you think it's really just because he wants to lead this state? Or do you think it's because he wants to push his agenda? In the fifth largest economy of the world, where Hollywood is, The devil masquerades as an angel of light, but this one ain't so hard to see the darkness within it. But no one's saying anything. And please forgive me. I know it comes close to home, steps on some toes. I have to say something. We have to say something. And I plan on sending this recording and a link, if the elders approve, to our representative on Monday. And I'm willing to face the consequences, as I trust this church is. even if that means we're barred from programming, which I'm not even sure we should be doing now. And I've been the one pushing for it. Not only were they not embarrassed to try and hide him, they focused on him as the main candidate to think about. They featured him with this event. This is an improvement from Governor Newsom? Are you kidding me? This is the answer, Republican Party? That we would even entertain such a candidate? Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's gonna get anywhere. The polls show he doesn't have a chance, but he's in the conversation now. And they will move to the center. And there are plenty of other political offices where they are already in charge. Already in the cabinet of our president. In the other party. I get so sick of people mentioning the other party as if they're the bad wicked ones. We are just as wicked. I shouldn't say we, I am no longer part of the party. I just couldn't stand the disgusting stench offered to me on the ballot every time. I'm not telling you what to do, but I am speaking out. I am coming out about this disgusting idolatry that we call conservatism, and we dare to connect with the word Christian. God have mercy on us. He already does that. We're not already going up in a plume of smoke. You know, when I almost, before I came out here, one of my professors, also who attended my church, said, you're going to California. You know, there's going to be earthquakes, and that state's going to break off and go out into the ocean. Maybe it will if we continue like this. This is the potential face of the Republican Party. conservative radio, Christian radio ownership, or at least this is a face that is featured and no one blushes? And we dare to parade ourselves as the answer against what's happening in our state and country, which are much less problems, certainly not an abomination unto the Lord. It's insanity. Too many Christians have drunk the elixir of Satan for political power, and they will do whatever it takes to have that power, and they will ignore whatever should be God's power to get it. And this is an incredibly horrible example of that reality. Well, it's not my party anymore. I left it, and now I am independent. Not in the independent party, because there's all kinds of issues there, too. I'm independent of all parties. It's not my party, but I can cry if I want to. Because in our country and in a vast majority of conservative and quote unquote Christian circles, where everything else is confused for the God of mammon and power, where we call what God says is good evil, and we call what God says is evil good, there is nothing to party about. And that is the message for you this evening, beloved. God have mercy on us. Who are you? Who do you identify with? To whom are you turning for hope and help? Who will you party with? There's nothing to party about. Let us pray. Lord God Almighty, have mercy on us, for we acknowledge that as we are citizens of this kingdom, part of this world, You would be right to destroy it and us within it. Lord, whatever you choose to do, let us not be silent. Let us not make excuses. Let us not walk around with our own pride that gets colored with the pride of this month and its flag that they stole from you as the sign of the covenant. Let us be sober. Let us not worship the god of mammon, the priests of power. Let us remember we are citizens of your kingdom, and your kingdom is not of this world. Your kingdom will obey you. Your kingdom will submit to the reality of how you created us. And as you redeem us in your image as recreated beings, we will only more gladly receive how you have made us men and women, boys and girls. We will embrace these gender distinctions, equal in value, different in function. We will embrace that you are the creator, you made us and not we ourselves. And we acknowledge and recognize that such sins we have heard of tonight in our own state at its highest levels of entertainment for political power are an abomination to you. So they are an abomination to us. We beg you to rise up true Christian men to lead us in the civil sphere of life. We beg you to bring revival and reformation. We beg you, O Lord, to turn the hearts of the people and the hearts of the kings. We beg you, O Lord, to raise up people that will lead us in getting rid of this sinful law that makes lawful the murder of children. The decapitating and suffocating of little babies in the wombs of their mothers. And we say it's lawful. And we tolerate so many saying, we're evil to say so. Oh, we cry out to you, God. and a nation that has legalized the marriage of men and men and women and women and will punish those who refuse to support such in businesses that should have nothing to do with it. God have mercy on us. Now we're in a nation where we do not have gender distinctions allowed. They are removed from our children's bathrooms. putting our daughters in even greater danger. I read recently of a basketball team, a girl's basketball team playing another girl's basketball team, but one of the people on the other team was obviously a boy, didn't even try to dress like a girl, and he was the best and causing them to win. And the children on the other team asked their coach, isn't that a boy? And the coach felt obliged to say, no, it's a girl, but it was a boy. Lord, have mercy. Our nation is sinking fast, and we don't want to think about it as we grasp to our power and our prestige and our money, as we are more concerned about economics than morality, and we think that you won't take it all away from us. Lord God, have mercy. If we are the only ones left, give us a faithful witness that such things ought not to be. Such things are an abomination to the Lord. And we pray that you would convict many of such sins involved in it. For in their consciences, if they are not yet seared, they know better. For the work of your law works on all our hearts. We pray that you would bring conversion and transformation into reality of body and soul. We pray, Lord, that you would conquer such things with the gospel, bringing people to their knees before God, crying out in repentance for shaking fists in rebellion against you, not only of the way to be saved and live eternally, but of the way to live now as you've created us in our biology. What insanity it is To demand we are something that our body that you made clearly says we are not. And to have our nation more and more ignoring these things. To have the conservative radio station owned and partnered with a Christian radio station. And the party would seem to claim it has Christian morals to have such abomination in their midst and treat it as if it's okay and unquestioned. We are in a very, very dark place. We are in a very, very dangerous, slippery slope, and we only think it's a fun slide, but we'll never be able to get back to the top once we hit the deep waters that suck us down to the bottom. God have mercy. We just cry out to you. We acknowledge we are such a small voice. We acknowledge these things seem too impossible to do anything about. Oh, Lord, as you have spoke through your prophets before, speak through your church and cause Nineveh, if only for a time, to repent. that you would save many lives and even livestock, and that you would create a new period of opportunity for righteousness to reign. And we do thank you, O Lord God, that in the end, on the last great day, all these things will be judged. Every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, and the great creator will be acknowledged. And all of our sins will be exposed. And we thank you that ours are nailed to the cross. We pray that others in these situations would get to that point as well before your return. And the devil and the demons and all this demonic activity will be sent to the great lake of fire. And we will live in true Salem, true Shalom, true peace, where the only thing going around in the airwaves is the kingdom of our Lord has become, the kingdoms of this world has become the kingdom of our God and of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. And the only people, men, women, boys, and girls on the earth will be those who with their souls and their bodies as a testimony say amen. We look forward to that day. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. And we pray in Jesus name. and all your people say, Amen.