The minister at my congregation is also the chaplain of a local school. Church school, and he was trying to explain undeserved grace is a free gift. So he pulled twenty dollars from his wallet and asked who wanted it. All the hands went up, and he gave it to a schoolboy.

Now after service that boy came with his mates, and tried to give him the money back. He said, look its yours, I gave it to you with no conditions. This was watched by a teacher… who then said that he should have told the schookid to donate the money to Vanuatu relief. At this point the minister said, strongly, it is unconditional. It is nothing to do with the kid. It is a gift.

We are not saved for anything we have done, but because Christ chose us. It is not our work. It is a gift, and the giver has the ability to choose whom he gives things to. It is not about justice. Salvation is not a human right. It is instead an act of grace, of mercy, that allows us into the presence of God.

And we should not forget this: for without this sense of gratitude we will fall . The times are evil.

Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD. They say continually to those who despise the word of the LORD, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’”

For who among them has stood in the council of the LORD to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened? Behold, the storm of the LORD! Wrath has gone forth, a whirling tempest; it will burst upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his heart. In the latter days you will understand it clearly.

“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.

“Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD. I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in my name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long shall there be lies in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies, and who prophesy the deceit of their own heart, who think to make my people forget my name by their dreams that they tell one another, even as their fathers forgot my name for Baal? Let the prophet who has a dream tell the dream, but let him who has my word speak my word faithfully. What has straw in common with wheat? declares the LORD. Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.

(Jeremiah 23:16-32 ESV)

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

(Mark 8:31-9:1 ESV)

Now, I am not a fan of female leadership. At all. There is a structure around this — men generally will work well under other men, but women don’t think about our issues and spend too much time thinking of status, which most men care less about than getting things done.

Yes, I am generalizing. However, having seen the seventy shades of hell women make among each other when left alone, the teaching that older women teach wifecraft and mothercraft makes more and more sense.

As Bee reminds us, equalitarian leadership devalues masculinity, and over time this kills the witness of the church.

Here is what generally happens when a Christian denomination accepts women as pastors and top leaders. I am speaking in general terms here, there are a few exceptions. This usually takes one to two generations to play out completely.

The churches don’t stop with just ignoring the Scriptures that forbid women from being pastors and leaders. The churches also relax their positions on divorce, remarriage, and sexuality.

The church begins to experience increasing levels of divorce, most initiated by the wives.

The innocent children in these divorced church families suffer. Without the covering of their fathers, with the father’s authority lessened, and without a lot of time with their fathers a larger number of the girls become promiscuous and a larger number of the boys become effeminate.

With feminine leadership comes increasing gender confusion among the children of the church families. Clear distinctions between masculine and feminine are blurred. This results in an increase in homosexuality and lesbianism among the teenage children.

Marriage after any divorce, not just a divorce due to adultery, becomes accepted. The romantic love of the couple in question is supposed to sanctify the adulterous second marriage.

Feminine traits are emphasized in the churches teachings and programs so that the masculine men leave. Many of the boys growing up in the church lack confidence and shy away from expressions of masculinity.

The natural 50% – 50% balance between men and women in the church shifts and begins to approach 65% women, 35% men.

The single, young women in the church are attracted to confident, successful, masculine men. Since there are very few of those left in the church, the women complain that they can’t find any good men at church (men that excite them emotionally) so they date outside the church. Some of these church girls fornicate with unbelievers and some marry unbelievers. Both are bad testimonies as Christians.

The false idea of sanctification of romantic love is now extended to homosexual and lesbian couples. The church no longer calls this a sinful practice.

The overall growth in numbers of the denomination has long ago ceased and the number of members drops off.

The Social Justice Warriors want to take the seat of Moses: kick the Pharisees, who are at least orthodox, off it, and decide to regulate inclusiveness by their own feelings, and any concerns about theology are to be trampled underfoot in this move to build a new Jerusalem.

They forget that the new Jerusalem comes with a new heaven and a new earth. It is not our doing. It is the gift of God: the very person they have rejected because Phallocentricity is the God who is living and near and active. And whom they have rejected, taking a denomination into heresy.

The way of Christ is not one of ease, where your feelings will be validated. Instead it is blood, sweat, struggle and pain: against those who do evil, and against the evil within. The daily cross is not a metaphor.

So dp not listen to those who say that all will be well. To those who say that it is well, when things are heading for destruction. To those who rejoice when they can legislate evil.

Do not be them. Do not be like them.