Upon an important issue
Let us discuss with reasonable discourse, free of strong emotion that we may find agreement and disagreement.
Let us build from our agreement to overcome our differences.
And when we cannot find resolution, let us allow each other our differences that both may be expressed freely. If not, all will be barred from expression.
Why do you crow about biology? The flesh is full of decay and death! Saving the flesh at the expense of the heart leads to death, not eternal life.
How can you decide to follow this law and not that? It was not God who broke the laws into groups. It was men. And it was MEN who tell us to ignore these laws but not those.
Hypocrites! Do you not see how it corrupts the law and in so doing corrupts hearts? We bicker over which of God’s laws to ignore as if we have command over the law! We become so focused on actions we fail to love one another as Jesus commands.
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
He doesn’t invalidate the law, rather He makes it so that the law is no longer binding. As Paul states, that isn’t cause to run out and be lawless.
But why was Paul so vague? He didn’t say that we would be condemned for breaking the law. He said that grace would not be increased by being lawless. Yet we are not punished for breaking the law as long as we believe.
Paul was saying that to ignore the law leads to pride and inflated ego. We can quickly and easily become haughty with others. “Oh, yeah? Well, I’m saved and you’re not!” This has the effect of driving others away. Rather we must show love and inclusion for everyone regardless of circumstance.
https://www.gotquestions.org/abolish-fulfill-law.html
Furthermore, as Jesus states, for us to pick this command and not that, we will be the least in Heaven. God didn’t give us cause to group the laws and decide for ourselves what to follow. If we are to follow the law, we must follow all of it. But if Jesus fulfills the law, then we are freed from the curse placed on us by the law.
I like to use the man on the cross next to Jesus as an example. The ONLY thing he did was believe. There was no repentance shown, nor did he ask forgiveness. He simply believed and ask that Jesus include him in heaven. Luke 23:39-43
So if we break a law yet we believe and we show love, we are still forgiven.
Repentance is the word most Christians like to use to condemn me. Yet the idea that repentance is a requirement for salvation flies in the face of so many passages starting with the obvious John 3:16. Repentance is about turning away from those things that lead to a corrupt heart.
I think Luke 8:12-15 helps explain the idea.
I can’t tell you the number of people calling themselves “Christian” who feel justified in judging others and proclaiming truth over others. It’s really sad.
Our calling is not to follow the law. It is to love one another as Jesus love us. It is to live with the love of God overflowing in our lives that others may see and find His grace and be saved.
I am a Christian transgender woman. That’s quite a mouth full.
All my life I have felt a connection with the universe that transcends the physical world. I can feel an unseen power. For many years I called that power “energy” for a long time. Now I call it the Holy Spirit. It surrounds us. It binds us. And it affects us in subtle ways we cannot begin to understand.
I was born in to a middle-class family. My mother has always been dedicated to God. My father has always been dedicated to science. From that I grew up learning science, loving the natural world and dedicating myself to technology – especially that new thing: the home computer. But I was also introduced to God many times. I respected religion but I never really believed. I don’t think I even qualified as a Sunday Christian most years
But life conspired to show me an amazing pastor and a dedicated wife. Together I was brought before God where I became a Sunday Christian. But my faith was good and strong.
Then VdC happened. First my wife went and came back changed for the better. She was more tolerant, more loving and highly dedicated to God. She even stopped listening to “secular” music. I was so impressed I attended the next gathering. It was amazing! I learned so much about what it should mean to be a Christian. It was a powerful powerful experience. I attended a 2nd and 3rd time. Loving and giving over and over. It was like the more we gave the better we were at giving and the more we could give. We helped each other in ways far beyond rational explanation. In one case my wife came down with a really bad migraine headache. She was laying in bed, unable to think when all of a sudden it lifted. The migraine drained away revealing a chant outside. Others heard of her dilemma and surrounded her bungalow, praying for healing. She hasn’t had a migraine end so suddenly before nor since. Praise God!
From that first trip to VdC camp North of Los Angeles my heart opened as wide as the Grand Canyon. I could feel love so deep it was beyond measure. I could feel the energy of the trees and grass and insects. Everything. It changed my life. And in that time I gave my whole self to God.
And that’s where it got interesting. In the midst of all this, my gender dysphoria was still very active. I lived as a man, hiding my femaleness from everyone and everything. God doesn’t want me to be a woman, right? And I gave that up to God.
He gave it back.
I remember it like yesterday. I stood on a mountainside as the sun rose between 2 peaks on the other side of a wide valley. The air was cool and crisp. It was so quiet you could almost hear your heartbeat. I closed my eyes and gave up everything to God. For a time I was free. No pain, no stress, no dysphoria.
Within 10 minutes the dysphoria was back. It was a bit of a let-down but I persisted. The feeling of love was enough to carry me.
Still I persisted being a man for another 2 years. I dedicated much of myself to hiding. Nobody could know my secret. I could not be the person God made me on the inside.
You cannot imagine the stress. It built and built because I would not submit. I am a Godly man. And when it became too much I sought help. Christians prayed and prayed. The same Christians that cured a migraine could do nothing to even dent my torment. I looked elsewhere but it all required extensive driving or money I couldn’t afford. And so no help came, no help could be found. And I suffered an anguish beyond measure. I felt like my heart was being torn apart all the time.
Then we moved. We left California for Raleigh. It’s the closest you can get to California weather on the East coast plus my wife and I both have family here. And I knew God wanted it because I was hired sight-unseen by FujiFilm after just 3 phone interviews. I was the only employee to get this treatment. They even paid to move us. We arrived and exactly when we needed a house, the perfect place became available. We literally signed the rental contract as the moving truck pulled up.
Now a new voice arose in me. It wasn’t love or light. It was the sound of my soul screaming in torment. At first it was a faint sound like nails on a chock board heard from 100 feet away. Nearly every waking minute became a deepening torment. That feeling of being ripped apart grew stronger. The sound of my soul grew louder and louder until it consumed my thoughts.
But I persisted. I had a wife and child. They expected a husband and father.
We moved into a new home. For the first time we owned the home in which we lived.
But the screaming and ripping torment grew stronger. It took all my energy just to get through the day, let alone do anything productive.
Still I persisted until I used up everything I had. I burned my heart, my soul then burned my relationships. And a feather dropped on me and everything crashed.
With my last breath I prayed God would bring me home.
Darkness took me as I lost my mind. My body started to shut down.
But God wasn’t done with me. He brought me back with a start. I was so depressed I could hardly breath. And then I realized God left me naked. All my walls were gone. All my coping mechanism were useless.
Within a minute of waking I felt an urgency I’ve never known: go insane in endless torment or change my body. There was nothing else.
Okay, okay. I’ve told people suicide was a 3rd option. And, yes, I could kill myself. But that was never a real option, not since I stood on the roof at the age of 18, ready to drop. God brought me back from that as well. After that, suicide was never an option. No matter how bad things got, I could not even irrationally consider suicide.
Can you imagine being tortured until your mind is completely lost?
How can you compare that to Internet porn or even alcoholism? Even alcoholics have to seek their poison. My tormentors stood all around me every day. There is no way to avoid all women forever. And women were my torment. They had by design what I needed to end my torture.
So that’s my background.
My next post is what I do moving forward.
A man calling himself “A Follower” and I had a back-and-forth conversation.
This is what many Christians have stated, though this person is a little more harsh.
Rachael Platt I appreciate your solemn and reasonable comment. The reality is that I too had friends that were in the homoerotic lifestyle either secretly and in the open, and although they knew I never approved or endorsed it, I Loved Them. When don’t ask, don’t tell was repealed, I knew at that moment this country was headed towards a dark place and I had to let go of many friends because of my Beliefs. The reality is, you don’t get to enforce laws that respect your beliefs in this country, and that is what you espouse, merely beliefs. For you to call yourself a woman, to me, is a Grave insult to women. You neither have the physical experience, biological disposition, nor the mental understanding to ever truly be a woman. You will have supporters and those that make your comfortable in your choices, everyone does, but that doesn’t make it okay and it will never resolve the issue. You are not a race, and your characteristic is not immutable. I will tell you like I told my friends, I Love You because you are a Soul, like myself. I Mourn for you, and I have my own sins and faults that I struggle with personally on a daily basis, but I know that i’ve chosen them all, and I will never blame others, God, or Life, for my own mistakes or misperceptions. You may not want to consider your choices a mistake or misperception, but I and many others will never respect it as anything better than that. We WILL Love You, and Help You, but not towards self-destruction and insistence on confusion. Don’t ask don’t tell is a standard for those sane enough to keep their behaviors to themselves. If you want to make a show of your basically irreconcilable beliefs, the government has no basis nor legal right to protect you or pass laws confirming the establishment of your beliefs.
A Follower: I presume by your words that you are Christian. If so, please read Romans 13:8-10. It is the Law of Love.
You are judging me without cause or fact. Worst of all, you are judging my walk with God. Please pray on this. God can explain what I cannot.
Please do not presume to know what choices God has given me. Please do not presume to know what works and what does not. That is the height of hubris and arrogance. I say this in rebuke, not insult.
For the record: TRANSITIONING HAS STOPPED MY GENDER DYSPHORIA!
THERE IS NO CONFUSION. THERE NEVER WAS. I have always been a daughter of God. He created me this way.
You do not understand my struggles because you lack the perspective. Do you have ears to hear? Will you listen and learn or will you continue to judge and trip up others?
—
I died following God’s word. My gender dysphoria built up so much stress that my soul SCREAMED IN AGONY constantly. My heart tried to cope and was overwhelmed to such a degree that I could not feel love. I COULD NOT FEEL OR HEAR GOD. But I could feel pain. And when I finally broke, my body started to shut down.
Can you fathom how emotionally painful all that is?
Can you imagine hearing your soul SCREAM for the torment to stop, over and over and over?
Can you understand the idea of pain so deep and dark it covers your heart and blocks all love?
Can you grasp the intense feelings of regret and longing that filled me to overflowing EVERY TIME I saw a woman?
Can you empathize with a woman whom can never be a mother? (That is me!) And the gut wrenching pain of watching happy mommies hold their babies, knowing I can never do that?
God brought me back from the dead and left me naked before my enemy – my dysphoria. He has endless choices but He provided me with 3:
Not long after I started to transition my soul stopped screaming and my heart poured out love again. Best of all, I can FEEL God again.
I just wish Christians would stop deciding what is clean and unclean for God. He alone decides what is clean.
I was washed clean by the blood of Jesus. I believe in Him and so I am saved. John 3:16. That’s all the man on the cross next to Jesus needed to be saved. That should be all I need.
Mr. Platt, please stop using The Bible to justify your false presumptions. God is Clear as to what is an Abomination and what is Not. Men wearing Women’s Clothing is an Abomination to Him as per HIS WORDS. Furthermore, Love is also not pretending sin does not exist. Love is Exposing Sin for what it is and Calling for, as Jesus Himself did, REPENTANCE (Meta-noia = changing of your mind). This is why Paul states in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 that Christians should NOT be DECEIVED, for neither fornicators, idolators, adulterers, EFFEMINATE (Malakoi = the soft in character/girly/sensual), practitioners of homoeroticism, thieves, drunks, revilers, and robbers will ever inherit The Kingdom of God. Stop blaming God for your own personal choices and your misperceptions. I know full well what it feels like to be in personal torment over my sins and faults, and scream out to God for Help and Salvation from myself and my Wretchedness. That darkness was a Blessing that Helped me See The Light in Christ, and therefore I REPENTED and made no excuse for my sin. For as The Apostle John (The one whom Jesus Loved) stated, “whoever claims to have no sin is a Liar, and the Truth is not in him.” Being a follower of Christ DEMANDS that you deny yourself (your views, your sinful desires, and false beliefs) and head towards The Truth. It doesn’t mean we won’t mess up, and i’m not Judging someone who’s actually walking and trying to enter Jesus’ Rest, but I will not sit here and condone Heresy from someone who claims to be a Christian and won’t even repent of the basic miscalculation of thinking yourself a woman when you are NOT. And NEVER will you be. That is called PRIDE on your part, thinking you know better than God. He didn’t make a mistake with you, you made the mistake and you suffered for it, and now you sit here presuming The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s Judgments after He made it CLEAR!? Do yourself a Favor, either Repent, or stop calling yourself a Christian. People like you muddy the waters and cause others Truly on The Path to Stumble. And Jesus made very Clear what would be better for those who make His Little Ones, Stumble. You are ill, and because you claim to see, your sin remains with you. Throw your “transgender” nonsense on the cross and save yourself from your own ego.
A Follower: Mr. Platt ? Why do you intentionally hurt me? Have you increased grace by calling me “Mr.”? Please show compassion.
You have been misled. If you look up devil, it means accuser or slanderer. Satan means enemy or astray. You simply do not understand that the true enemy is the accuser that leads us astray.
God gave me a woman’s mind, a woman’s heart, a woman’s soul and a man’s body. This is not a lie nor a delusion because I gave it up to God many times and He gave it right back every time. I prayed for YEARS for help or support or something. He gave me death and rebirth as a whole woman. To this day He continues to bless me and my family with miracle after miracle.
Ah Deu 22:5. It’s a paradox because it says some part of me will always sin. Matt 5:28.
There are 2 solutions to this:
1. Jesus tells us if a body part causes us to sin, we should cut it off. Matt 5:29. My penis is all that identifies me as male and thus a sinner. SRS will fix that. If you want to argue DNA, I recommend you watch this: https://youtu.be/BD6h-wDj7bw
2. Romans 13:8-10. If we love each other without condition we are fulfilling the law.
1 Corinthians 6:9
Malakoi refers to a boy who prostitutes himself out in God’s temple. I recommend learning more about the Corinth life style. Here’s the 1st reference I found: http://www.gaychristian101.com/Malakoi.html
Even still, I am reborn a woman by God’s grace.
Stop blaming God for your own personal choices and your misperceptions.
Again, are you increasing grace by making uninformed accusations? Being transgender is NOT a choice. It’s a torture thrust upon me from an early age. So much of your argument is based on this misconception. Please open your heart. I beg you, listen to my story and find healing, not judgment.
A few years ago I had a vision while in church. Jesus walked up and hugged me. The love and warmth was so overwhelming I cried openly. That feeling stayed with me for years! WHY WOULD I GIVE THAT UP? Why decide to turn my back on such an experience? It wasn’t the first.
I know Jesus. He is my friend and confidant. But that relationship has been beaten and bruised because I have been so cruelly judged by so many Christians claiming “love” while condemning me.
Being a transgender woman and a Christian is not impossible for all things are possible with God.
What is more important: the law or love?
Is anyone saved by the law? No! The law condemns.
But true love fulfills the law AND brings healing.
Please. I do not want to change your walk with God. I want to open your heart and mind to a greater existence. I am hoping we can be friends. You are my brother. I am your sister.
You said I’m not coming clean. Could you explain that? And what lie do we peddle? Thank you.
To see is to believe, right?
I will lead others to God by example through love, compassion and acceptance as Jesus did. That we walk with them does not bind us to them. It doesn’t limit us, it frees us and makes us stronger. And I think that’s one of my biggest problems with the way most Christians approach the LGBT community. So many sit from a haughty position demanding others join them to be saved.
Nobody will be changed by telling them who they must be or how they must suffer. We will not turn broken hearts by using “tough love.” That’s lemon juice on a paper cut. Rather we must be gentle and healing. We must seek to sooth the heart and soul before anything may be gained. We must bring them up so they can see, not tear down what they’ve built, even if they’ve been building straight down.
Show them the sun, the light and the warmth of God through yourself – your actions and your stories. Show them how the path saved you and how it may help them.
We do not shine with our own light rather we are mirrors reflecting God’s light and grace into the shadows. But if we want to shine a light on someone we must know where they are first.
THIS IS IMPORTANT:
We can help guide others but to do that we must first know them by standing in their shoes and seeing with their eyes. Without knowing where they are and what they see, nobody can point them to a better way. Without knowing we only look like lost hypocrites pointing in some random direction. For their path in not our path. Their walk is not our walk.
When we see the world and God through their eyes, we gain perspective. This doesn’t chain us to them or encourage their direction. Rather we see the road blocks and pit falls ahead of them.
Without knowing them we often point them in a direction they cannot go and they quickly give up. By knowing them we can show them how to get around the road blocks and help them over the pit falls.
THAT is love in my book.
The road to God is not a single straight and narrow path that leads to the narrow gate that few enter. Each of us walks a unique and bumpy road that takes us through darkness and light, life and death, love and disease. With help we can stay on our path to reach the gate.
That is all I ever wanted.
What did I get? Road blocks. Demands that I suffer endless torment into hell. Then I’m saved… and alone in the dark with no heart. All that would remain of my soul would be a few tatters and shreds.
For most Christians: you may not believe me but have you stood where I stand and seen what I’ve seen? Your perspective works for you. The path you walk is your path. I may find it offensive feel bullied into walking it but I will not call it wrong. The thing is, I cannot walk that path. It is impossible.
For me to walk the common Christian path destroys love and blocks grace. I know because I reached the end of that road. There’s a pit at the end that requires great strength to jump. By the time I (and many like me) get there, we are too weak and fall instead.
So there must be another way beyond the laws that define the common Christian path.
For me the path is defined by 2 parts: belief and love.
I believe Jesus is real, that He is Lord and that He died and was risen to take away the sins we give him.
I also seek to express love as Jesus did. Love everyone from the most vile of people to Mother Teresa. All they need do is want love.
I must work outside Deuteronomy 22:5 in the hopes Romans 13:9-10 and John 15:12 are correct. And not stray from that path.
You may disagree. Every Christian may cast me out and call me lost and condemned – as many have. I will still walk my path because it keeps God in my sights and allows me to be me without hurting myself in the process.
I know my path works because I feel God’s love and grace. That warmth cannot be faked with deception.
My path, bumpy though it may be, gives me strength to fly over the widest pits. Even better, it helps me help others with their road blocks and pit falls.
All Glory Be to God!
It’s 3:00 PM and my weight is 224.6. Not bad but my weight loss has stalled. Time to start working out.
GOAL: 210 lbs, 40-
Desired Goal: 40-33-43
Why? So I can order a large (size 14) from Venus.com!
I need a routine.
6:30 Start the day! Work out for 20-30 minutes.
7:00 Shower, dress, makeup, meds
8:00 Leave for work
1:30 Afternoon meds (if any)
5:30 Home again, home again.
11:00 Get ready for bed – wash face, meds
11:30 GO TO BED. That’s 7 hours sleep.
Cardio Routine
Plus do 1 of:
Starting today.
