The Biblical Basis for Transformation

“Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11 NASB95

“Such WERE some of you” -this indicates a change, which is transformation.

The definition of transformation according to the Oxford Dictionary is, “A thorough or dramatic change.”

According to Webster’s, the definition is, “The act or process of changing completely.”

We see a lot of examples in the Bible of people struggling in sin, but then being transformed by the power of God. In the book of Hosea, Gomer, who was an adulterer, was reconciled to her husband, Hosea, and transformed into a godly wife. In the book of Exodus, Moses was identified as a murderer and hid from Pharoah because of what he had done. Yet, this murderer was later transformed by God into the leader of His people, and would stand up to Pharoah rather than hide from him. In the Gospel of John, chapter 4, the woman at the well was transformed from adulterer into an evangelist because of Jesus’ kindness and authority. Saul of Tarsus went from being known as the one who persecuted the Church to being transformed by Jesus into the Apostle Paul who wrote 13 of the 27 books in the New Testament.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

When a sinner turns from their sin, towards God in true  , we begin to see the manifestation of transformation within them. We see this by way of the fruits of the Spirit as mentioned in Galatians 5; and in John 15 it mentions, “remain in me” and we will produce fruit. This shows us that we cannot make this change on our own. To achieve transformation, our part is repentance and obedience, His part is the sanctification*and transformation. Our part is faith, His part is grace.

Ephesians chapter 2 tells us, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the Kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following it’s desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.”

Later, the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:8-10, “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.”

The Bible clearly tells us that transformation is a changed life, and that life will bear new fruit. One who once lived a life contrary to what pleases God, bearing evil fruit, will change into a life that no longer conforms to the ways or the “pattern” of this world (Rom 12:2). This transformation occurs through the renewing of our mind and our flesh, and will then manifest itself through new actions, which is the bearing of good fruit. John 15 tells us that Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches, IF we remain in Him, and He in us, we will bear much fruit–apart from Him we can do nothing. It is Jesus who causes fruit to bear.

More examples in the Bible can be found in places such as Colossians 1:9-10, which shows us that it is the Spirit that gives us wisdom and understanding in order that we may bear fruit in every good work; and this is a life that pleases the Lord.

Sanctification is a process

Philippians 1:6 says, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” God never stops working within us. Those who were once in darkness and now are light in the Lord, the Spirit is constantly working in them to make them more in the likeness of Jesus. The veil in the temple was there to protect the people from the holiness of God; but when Jesus died, that veil was torn and that makes it so that we can come into His presence. We who come with “unveiled faces” are being transformed into Jesus’ image. This happens because of the Spirit and “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor. 3:12-18). No chains. No condemnation. Freedom. Transformation. Hope!

If God is constantly at work in us, then this is a continual process until the day of Christ Jesus. This process starts with the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Rom 1:16). It is in the Gospel that we see that we need to put off the old nature, which belongs to our former way of living, and now put on our new nature (Eph 4:22-24). Other places, it says we are to “walk in the Spirit.” Transformation in the Bible is very much described like taking off old clothes. We take off, or as the Bible says, “put off,” or do away with our “old self.” If the old self has died, we cannot put it back on. We can only “put on” the new and learn to live in that new self.

Paul tells us that the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, My  power is made perfect in weakness” (2Cor. 12:9). We cannot be changed or transformed on our own. WE cannot “will” it in our own strength. It is by the power of the love of God through the constant work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a repentant heart that we will experience transformation.

Discipleship Matters

As believers, we have the wonderful comfort of the instruction of the Word of God; but to those who depart from it, there is little hope (see Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-18). Isn’t it reassuring that we have received instruction from our Lord and Savior? He instructed us to, “Go make disciples.” Scripture is unmistakably clear on this issue (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18).

Our goal in discipleship is the maturing of a believer into the character of Jesus and helping them make additional disciples.

Often, as it was with Jesus, we must go up to the mountain with the Lord and seek Him on who we will disciple and allow Holy Spirit to hover over our hearts. (Luke 6:12-16) Discipleship often begins with intercession as we go to God on behalf of another. The discipler must divest themselves of any agenda and fully surrender to the Lord. With the guidance of Holy Spirit the discipler must be prepared to be humble, a good learner of people, able to model and practice the fruit of the Spirit as well as Christlike character. It is important to recognize that we are not trying to make converts. When trials or difficulties come, converts fall away. Disciples are willing to die for the One whom they love.

To the extent that we allow Jesus to transform us, lead us, teach us, and correct us, we will be used in the discipleship of others. In our obedience to the Lord’s commission, we are either modeling Christ for them, or we are modeling ourselves to them. Therefore, people will either be growing in Christlikeness because of our relationship with Jesus Christ, or they will be becoming disciples of us and our own imagination of who Jesus is. Their progression in discipleship will reflect our maturity in Jesus Christ (John 15:1-17).

Parenthood is a wonderful illustration of discipleship. For many people, their children may have been their first experience with discipleship. In the same way we don’t leave a newborn to fend for itself, we also should not leave a new believer to fend for themselves. They may come into The Kingdom loud, messy, disruptive, needy, etc. and requiring a great deal of kindness and patience. We will need to teach them to worship, pray, study their Bible, love, serve, and so on. Most of this they will need to see in action. When guiding individuals out of the LGBTQ community to become a disciple of Jesus, we must have both a father’s heart and a mother’s heart toward them.

The disciple maker has the authority of Jesus Christ to disciple from any tribe, tongue, or people group, including the LGBTQ community. We are called to baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach them everything Jesus has taught us. We are to teach the disciple all of Scripture, and to build in them the fullness of Christ until the end of the age.

In making disciples, we must always remember that the divine instructions given by God in Genesis 1:26-28 applies to all disciples. Affirming the individual that they have been given the authority and divine empowerment to accomplish these instructions is critical to the development of the identity of a disciple. Those coming out of the LGBTQ community to be discipled, often come with doubts that they are part of God’s Kingdom and that the Genesis 1 mandates cannot, or do not, apply to them.

These mandates are to:

  • Have authority to rule (have dominion over) the earth
  • Be fruitful and to multiply
  • Tend to and cultivate (bring out the best in) all of God’s creation
  • Continue living out our commission until death

Finally, remember this model for discipleship as it is demonstrated in Acts 42-47:

  1. Disciple maker does, disciple watches
  2. Disciple does, disciple maker watches
  3. Disciple does (goes and make disciples)

Relationship Building Ideas For Discipleship

Healthy discipleship exists in relationship between Jesus and the disciple; as well as the disciple maker and the disciple. Here are some key ideas to help you build relationships that will lead to productive discipleship in Jesus Christ.

Practical Considerations

  • Get their contact information, full name, cell phone number, email address
  • Talk to them about the next time you will both meet to do discipleship, and then immediately send them a follow-up communication
  • Schedule regular meetings with them (no less than once a week, no less than 1 hour)
  • Let them be part of you everyday life. Include them in special events like holidays, birthday parties, family outings. Take them with you as you disciple others, go to the grocery store, go to the gym. Find out what they like to do and do it with them.
  • Avoid pairing disciples and disciple makers who struggle with the same relationship sins; such as addiction to porn or acting out sexually in any way
  • Meet in public places such as at church or at a coffee shop
  • Agree to an appropriate Bible translation, but be mindful of where they are, not where you want them to be. Understanding and comprehending the content of some translations as well as literacy in general is still a common issue for many. Use a children’s Bible or audio version if needed.

Holding Disciples Accountable

  • Hold them accountable to reading Scripture and to times of prayer:
    1. Plan mutual times of reading and praying together with you
    2. Have them plan times of reading and praying on their own
  • Watch for forward progression in their maturity, if there isn’t there may be a number of reasons (religion, lack of being in the Word, an area of freedom needed, misbeliefs, heart issue). Inquire of the Lord how to proceed.
  • Cultivate humility and teachability by modeling it. It is prudent for us to take the learners chair and ask questions that will encourage the disciple to look to God’s Word as their source for truth. Character issues will resolve in a community focused on joy and connection with a strong group identity. Insisting they fully engage in a faith community is crucial.
  • Teach them about God honoring relationships and to discern which friends or relationships are edifying to their spiritual growth, maturity, or walk with Jesus Christ

Discipleship of the LGBTQ+ community

In regards to the discipling those coming out of the LGBTQ Lifestyle, there are several areas of awareness that will be of importance:

  1. Community-the LGBT Community is know for its acceptance, sense of belonging, hospitality, lack of judgement, etc. In most cases the church currently fails at meeting the need for community. In order to be successful as a discipler, one must be willing to let people be part of your life.
  2. Most individuals with LGBT history struggle with toxic shame and a lack of relational connection. This will require empathy and compassion to navigate them through.
  3. Resources and testimonies of transformed ex-gays is vital as the disciple will benefit from a sense of being related to, knowing they can still be different and belong, as well as find comfort and hope in knowing someone else has overcome.

 

Remember: Our goal in discipleship is to help them become who God created them to be in order to fulfill their God given purpose in life and encourage them to follow the model laid out in Scripture. If we model discipleship as Jesus did our disciples will make disciples.

Keynote Address – Vision 2022

Executive Director Nate Oyloe shares his keynote message about Agape First Ministries vision for 2022 and beyond. A new wine skin of ministry, with the goal of making Jesus Famous through discipling the nations about His transforming power! Nate shares the truth that God still does miracles of transformation.

‘Experimental lab for transgender ideology’: Feds accused of complicity in student’s suicide

 

 

A decade ago, the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of a California junior high student “initially raised as a female” who now identified as male and wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at school and room with boys on overnight school trips.

decade ago, the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a civil rights complaint on behalf of a California junior high student “initially raised as a female” who now identified as male and wanted to use the boys’ bathroom at school and room with boys on overnight school trips.

Yaeli Martinez was one of the first Arcadia Unified students to be treated under this new system. According to her mother, the transition to “Andrew” worsened Yaeli’s mental health problems, and in 2019 her “beautiful girly girl” who dressed like a princess as a child stepped in front of a train at age 19.

Abigail Martinez fought through tears to tell the story of her deceased daughter Monday at a Heritage Foundation event on “radical gender ideology” in public schools. 

 

“I want everyone to know the truth about what happened to our family because it didn’t have to happen,” said the mother of four, who immigrated to the U.S. from El Salvador at age 18. “I can’t explain this pain … Even when you breathe it hurts.”

Roger Severino, former civil rights director for the Department of Health and Human Services in the Trump administration, made the connection to the federal settlement with the school district. 

 

“They created an experimental lab for this transgender ideology, and Yaeli was the first victim of it,” said Severino, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, from the audience. He connected Martinez with Heritage after the conservative think tank scheduled the event with a different panelist, Senior Research Fellow Jay Richards told Just the News.

The Justice Department and Arcadia Unified did not respond to queries about the possible role played by the 2013 settlement in Yaeli’s mental health decline and suicide. The Education Department acknowledged the query but did not further respond.

 

Martinez said she notified the school that her daughter was showing signs of depression and that she was being bullied for her looks. Administrators allegedly traced the mental health problems to gender dysphoria and socially transitioned her.

While she supported her daughter’s exploration of male hairstyles and outfits and agreed to call her Andrew, Martinez told Yaeli she was going through temporary phases. The school disagreed, falsely claiming that Yaeli had identified as male since childhood. “I was accused that I didn’t want to open my eyes,” aid Martinez.

 

Yaeli ran away after a suicide attempt, informed that California would pay for transgender medical procedures if she were removed from home and that the transition would improve her mental health, Martinez said. 

A transgender peer coached her on what to tell the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), and the school supported her removal as well. Yaeli was placed in foster care and paired with an LGBTQ support group at age 16. 

 

Martinez said she went to court “every single month” to get her daughter back, unsuccessfully seeking a psychological evaluation for Yaeli. During hour-long supervised visits each week, Martinez was banned from discussing certain topics with Yaeli, including God.

Officials ignored her pleas to treat Yaeli’s mental health problems instead of giving her cross-sex hormones, which didn’t make the teenager feel better, as she allegedly confessed in group therapy.

The suicide caused a stir in Los Angeles County at the time, with DCFS on the defensive, according to youth and family publisher The Imprint. Martinez testified at a Board of Supervisors meeting and set up a fundraiser for Yaeli’s memorial.

Other mothers shared their legal battles to stop school districts from socially transitioning children and unveil gender ideology in the curriculum.

January Littlejohn and her husband sued Florida’s Leon County school board and district officials last year for implementing a protocol that “explicitly circumvents parental notification and involvement” when a child asserts a “discordant gender identity.”

This involves treating children as the opposite sex at school and in school-spnosored activities such as overnight trips, while referring to them by their birth names and pronouns in communications with parents.

 

Another Florida family sued Clay County’s school district in January for its secret gender-identity meetings with their daughter, which were divulged only after the girl attempted suicide on consecutive days.

As with other adolescents whose mental health took a dive during COVID-19 lockdowns, Littlejohn’s daughter and her friends started questioning their gender in summer 2020.

Like Martinez, Littlejohn notified the school of her daughter’s problems, but was blindsided when the girl told her that school officials asked which restroom she wanted to use. The vice principal hid details of that meeting from Littlejohn, citing a nondiscrimination policy.

The mother learned of a 6-page “support plan” for her daughter that included her restroom and bunking preference, which created a “huge wedge” within the family. Littlejohn said her daughter was only celebrated at school after she started identifying as male.

Rhode Island mother and lawyer Nicole Solas got herself sued by teachers unions last summer for filing public records requests for curriculum and policies related to gender theory and children’s sexuality.

Solas said she learned from her daughter’s principal that the school uses unwritten “common practices” such as avoiding gendered terminology with the kindergartners. 

She was alarmed to learn about the school’s practice of socially transitioning children without parental consent, in which students can allegedly request a “point team” of teachers, staff and mental health professionals to transition them on a set schedule. 

Solas withdrew her own daughter in response. “There’s no age threshold,” she said. “There’s no really no rules on how they do this.” 

The district refused to give her the number of students being transitioned, claiming it would breach student confidentiality, which Solas said is false because it has provided her similar information in the past.

She’s still waiting for a ruling on her August motion for summary judgment in the teachers unions’ lawsuit, the subject of a December hearing, according to the court docket.

By Greg Piper   Just The News

 

“Transgender” Activist Set Free After Meeting Christ

This was an interview I had done with Alex Newman on The New American Program.

In this interview with The New American magazine Senior Editor Alex Newman, former “transgender” activist Luca Jo Groppoli with Over The Rainbow describes her experience spending 34 years impersonating a different gender before meeting the Lord and being set free and having her life transformed. She explains how she was hurt as a child, and then allowed “experts” at the University of Minnesota to convince her that she needed to have a sex change for her “gender dysphoria.” However, after going to church and meeting Christ, she realized that she had been deceived. So she repented and now speaks out on this issue to try to rescue children and others who have been sucked in. Unfortunately, the situation is only going to get worse, she warned. As such, Luca said it is critical that the Church stand firm for the truth and help people, in love, to find God’s will for their lives.

https://www.midlandscbd.com/articles/transgender-activist-set-free-after-meeting-christ

 

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Female to male shares her story

 

 This is a testimony of Kelly, she was born female and transitioned to male.she will tell you the things the Dr.s don’t tell you when seeking a sex change. Why?   $$$ of course.

We have to be brave so we can help our children, for the children, be brave and stand up for them.

 

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