The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

-2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)

Despite your sin, God loves you and continues to reach out to you to save you.

The church wants to deliver the message of hope, but often the message of hope includes resisting the lies culture tells you.

Why can’t we just “mind our own business”?

• All sin wounds somebody.

• When you live according to Jesus’ word, it brings life for you, everyone around you, and the very culture itself.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

-2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)

If I were the Devil… If I were the prince of darkness I would… want to engulf the whole world in darkness… I would set about however necessary to take over the United States. I would subvert the churches first. I would begin a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’ To the young I would whisper that the Bible is a myth. I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good and what’s good is ‘square.’ And to the old I would teach to pray after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington.’

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And then I would get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I would threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I would soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves. Until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I would have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

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If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellectuals but neglect to discipline emotions, just let those run wild, until before you know it, you’d have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing. I’d have judges promoting pornography. Soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress.

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And in his own churches I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil, I would make the symbol of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. If I were the devil I would take from those who have and give to those who want it until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

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And what will you bet? I couldn’t get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich. I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.

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In other words, if I were the devil I would just keep right on doing what he’s doing.

-Paul Harvey, April 1965

Common Theme: Sex & Sexuality

I. Identify the Stronghold

The modern lies the devil is using to destroy a generation:

• Sex outside of marriage is no big deal and causes no damage to future relationships.

• Gender is fluid and self-determined

• Biological sex can be altered.

• God does not care who you sleep with.

• God does not care what you do with your body.

The Bible teaches that sex is sacred.

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

-Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

The Bible teaches that God built you from the ground up.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

-Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

Your best life is to find your comfort and satisfaction in who God made you to be–your body, your sex—every single biological part that He knitted together.

Culture is a powerful manipulator and liar and is held under the sway of the Evil One.

Propaganda: The deliberate and systematic use of communication to influence people’s attitudes, beliefs and emotions.

Gender Dysphoria & Gender Affirming Care:

No matter what mutilation you allow into your body, your sex from the moment of conception will never change.

Gender affirming care is anything but affirming and anything but caring.

There is no evidence that medical interventions benefit gender-distressed young people.

...the sexual transition of young people will be regarded as one of the greatest ethical scandals in the history of medicine.

-French Senate, Report on the Transidentification of Minors (2024)

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

-2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

II. How did we get here?

How did we get to a place where transgenderism is trendy?

A major part of Jesus’ ministry was to cast out the demonic influences that rule our world.

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

-Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

When Jesus came, He confronted this dark world head on.

When the teachings of Jesus are absorbed into culture, the demonic forces are pushed out to the fringes of society.

However, when Jesus’ precepts are resisted, ignored, or even disdained, death and despair emerge.

These demonic forces are identifiable.

They have been around since Satan’s fall, and have been talked about, read about, and written about since the earliest civilizations like Mesopotamia.

Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus, Ashtoreth: The patron of alcohol intoxication and prostitution

She was notorious for making a woman desire a woman and a man desire a man.

Every woman of the land, in worship of this god or goddess was compelled to perform the act of prostitution by having relations with a stranger in exchange for money at least once in her life. (Herodotus)

In the tablets of Sumer, one of the oldest known written languages from Mesopotamia, Ishtar is described as “harimtu” or “karkid.”

Translation: prostitute

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

-2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

When biblical values replaced pagan ones, the gods and goddesses could not remain.

But where are we today? We have forsaken all of those things! The gods have returned.

As you look around the western world, it appears Ishtar has returned.

As the ancient Mesopotamians read or listened to the pornographic words and stories of Ishtar, Americans now read pornographic literature and watch pornographic movies in theaters, on their television sets, and on their computer monitors.

-Jonathan Cahn, The Return of the Gods

When you kick God out, the forces that wreak havoc on culture, families, and individuals, return to the mainstream.

Ishtar had the ability to go back and forth with her identity. Her mission was to confuse gender and destroy the distinction between male and female.

But why? Ishtar was not only the goddess of sexuality but of destruction.

The devil’s strategy from the beginning is to corrupt or destroy what God has given.

According to the ancient writings, Ishtar had the power and the desire to turn women into men and men into women.

The demonic world takes something that is sacred and desacralizes it. A person’s sex is sacred, given by God. To attempt to alter, violate, or decimate a person’s sex is to violate what is sacred.

The demonic goddess Ishtar would often herself appear as a man or woman or attempt to be indistinguishable.

Gender Identity: Now it is possible to divorce oneself from one’s biological gender. But why?

Gender dysphoria has significantly increased because the demonic forces are no longer on the fringes.

The Overhauling of Straight America by Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen

Step One: Talk about gays and gayness as loudly and often as possible!

Step Two: Portray gays as victims!

Step Three: Desensitize the public.

Step Four: Marginalize extremes; emphasize the mainstream.

Step Five: Promote the “born gay” narrative.

Step Six: Muddy the moral waters.

Step Seven: Make opponents look bad.

This is not just a fad but a cultural spiritual stronghold!

III. How do we respond?

The stronghold over this generation is a lie concerning basic biology and gender.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

-2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NIV)

One: Demolish the stronghold as soon as possible!

Read the Bible to our children with specific attention on these strongholds and allow the spirit of God to do his work.

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

-Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

-Psalm 139:13-16 (NIV)

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

-Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)

Two: Employ the secret weapon.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

-2 Corinthians 10:4 (NIV)

When a child adopts values and beliefs that go against the teachings of Scripture, Christian parents find this extremely challenging, resulting in tension, arguments, and conflict.

Arguments and presuppositions of the LGBTQ+ community that conflict with a biblical worldview:

• Culture’s Worldview: My experience of sexuality and gender is the truth I must follow and the authority by which I come to understand myself.

• Biblical Worldview: God’s Word is the ultimate authority that informs how I understand myself and my experiences, including matters of sexuality and gender.

• Culture’s Worldview: My sexual or gender identity defines who I am; therefore, it should be celebrated and embraced as good.

• Biblical Worldview: Sexual or gender struggles are a result of my broken condition as a sinner. Although my desires may feel natural and right, they must not be gratified or embraced as good if they contradict the Word of God.

• Culture’s Worldview: To disagree with my sexual or gender identity is to speak against me as a person and therefore is both unloving and an attack on my psychological wellbeing.

• Biblical Worldview: God’s love accepts me as I am, yet works to conform me to his holy character, so that I might be free from the bonds of sin and alive in righteousness.

These arguments are the strongholds the LBGTQ+ Community have inundated your children with. These strongholds include false beliefs, thoughts, arguments, and reasoning that stand in opposition to the truth of Scripture.

One: Make a preemptive strike. Tell them the truth before the lie comes. Demolish the lies with truth before the lie comes.

Two: Employ the secret weapon.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

-2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (NIV)

Paul is giving us insight into where the real battlefield is: the spiritual realities at work in your son or daughter’s heart.

The Bible says the your aim must be set at doing battle against the spiritual strongholds that undergird your child’s beliefs.

You gotta suit up and do battle! And where is the battle fought and won? On your knees.

1. Do you pray truth over your child more than you speak it to them?

2. Does the truth of Christ guard your heart from despair and hopelessness for your child?

3. Are you concerned with your own personal growth in righteousness, even as it pertains to how you relate to your wayward child?

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

-James 5:16 (ESV)

4. Do your words and actions toward your child reflect the demeanor of one who is controlled by the peace of God?

Your struggle with your son or daughter is not against flesh and blood.

The primary weapon against strongholds according to scripture is escorting feelings and emotions to the objective truth of God’s word.

Don’t be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.

-2 Kings 6:16 (NIV)

Make a Decision