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The Truth About Transgenderism (Part 2)
By Lisa*
In the book When Harry Became Sally, Ryan Anderson explains that when researchers followed people who had sex reassignment surgery over 30 years in Sweden (a culture that is strongly supportive of transgendered people), they found that those who had had the surgery still struggled with severe mental unrest. The suicide rate of those who underwent surgery rose to 20 times that of their comparable peers. He concluded that transitioning to the opposite gender does not produce the happiness people seek. Perhaps this is because their problems go much deeper.
More than 100 follow-up studies of post-operative transsexuals were done by the University of Birmingham. It was concluded that none of those studies provided evidence that gender reassignment is beneficial. The Obama administration came to the same conclusion in 2016. An Obama Centers for Medicare and Medicaid study pointed out a 19 times greater likelihood of death by suicide in individuals who underwent sex reassignment surgery. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services concluded that, based on a thorough review of clinical studies, there was not enough evidence to show that sex reassignment surgery benefitted its patients at all. This is why insurance hasn’t covered it . . . up until now.
Consequences of Sex Reassignments
Telling a gender-confused person they should transition is like telling a bulimic, “Yeah, I know you’re only 80 pounds and wasting away, but since you still think you’re fat, I guess letting you get gastric bypass surgery couldn’t hurt if it will help you feel more thin.”
Jamie Shupe, the first person to obtain a “non-binary” sex classification in America, has a lot to say about the evils of trans medicine. After participating in it for six years, he says it left him with an “eternally scarred psyche” and a host of health issues. Convinced he was a woman during a mental health crisis in 2013, Jamie’s therapist recommended he start on estrogen and testosterone blockers. Jamie says, “I believed that wearing a long wig, dresses, heels, and makeup would make me a woman. The best thing that could have happened would have been for someone to order intensive therapy that would have protected me from my inclination to cross-dress. Instead, quacks in the medical community said, ‘Your gender identity is female.’”
When Jamie began the process of transitioning, doctors and therapists told him he’d soon experience a positive boost in mental health. “It was just the opposite,” he says. “It destabilized my mental health because I was living in a false reality. I was fighting my body . . . . I perfectly understand why this kills people and why there’s such high suicide rate . . . . It’s the program itself that’s killing us.”
Jamie later de-transitioned and currently speaks out against trans medicine. He now admits, “All of my sexual confusion was in my head. I should have been treated. Instead, at every step, doctors, judges, and advocacy groups indulged my fiction . . . .”
When Jamie began the process of transitioning, doctors and therapists told him he’d soon experience a positive boost in mental health. “It was just the opposite,” he says. “It destabilized my mental health because I was living in a false reality. I was fighting my body . . . . I perfectly understand why this kills people and why there’s such high suicide rate . . . . It’s the program itself that’s killing us.”
Jamie Shupe
Much as so-called experts changed the language around addiction to absolve people of personal responsibility, the same is now being done in the trans arena. Just as it’s no longer politically correct to say a drug addict makes a choice by taking drugs (instead they have a disease), we can no longer call men who dress as women “transvestites” because it implies they have a choice as to whether or not they cross-dress. The new vocabulary demands we refer to them as transgender instead. Because if someone is “transgender,” it’s not their fault if they cross dress. They were born inside the wrong body, after all.
The field of transgender medicine will be exposed in decades to come. Top medical professionals believe we will one day look back and say, “Remember when instead of treating the root cause of a mental illness, we encouraged the person to move deeper into their delusion?” We will eventually look back at hormone treatments and sex re-assignment surgery the same way we do the lobotomies of yesteryear.
Promotion of Gender Stereotypes
But until that day we have a wave of men seeking to become women and vice versa even though there is no possible way a man can ever know what it’s actually like to be a woman. This is why feminist icons like Germaine Greer are finally speaking out against transgender ideology. Transgenderism reinforces everything they’ve spent their entire lives fighting against. It promotes old, outdated gender stereotypes (being a woman means putting on a skirt and heels). A group of radical feminists recently had their Twitter accounts suspended for promoting “transphobia” because they were tweeting things like “A man cannot be a woman.” This kind of talk is now considered hate speech in our country.
We will see more and more of this censorship in the coming years (for example, soccer player Jaelene Hinkle, who wasn’t allowed to play on the U.S. team in the World Cup simply because she refused to wear an LGBTQ pride jersey).
Our society does not have an issue with a man whose temperament is more “feminine.” Being sensitive, intuitive, nurturing, caring, artistic, and gentle even though you are biologically male are considered good qualities to most women. I myself have been accused of having many “masculine” qualities throughout my life. I am direct, confident, and unafraid of confrontation. I’d rather watch football than attend a baby shower any day. I majored in criminal justice. I worked with gangs in Chicago. Nothing about my personal interests or life experiences is considered classically “feminine.” But just because a person has qualities traditionally observed in the opposite gender does not mean they should become that gender.
No empowered female would ever accept transgender ideology in any form. It’s an insult to women the world over to suggest that because someone puts on a skirt and wedges, it automatically makes him a woman. We women are not our clothes or shoes. We are not our hair or makeup. Any real woman knows this. Outer beauty has nothing to do with being female. For my brother to think that putting on a dress, wig, and makeup somehow makes him the same as me is perhaps the greatest insult of all time. He has spent 36 years of his life as a man. He knows nothing of what it’s like to be an American female in the 21st century. And he never will.
A group of radical feminists recently had their Twitter accounts suspended for promoting “transphobia” because they were tweeting things like “A man cannot be a woman.” This kind of talk is now considered hate speech in our country.
As I mentioned before, therapists historically viewed cross-dressing as a compulsion to ease anxiety, which is easy enough to understand. People do all kinds of things to ease anxiety. They drink. They eat too much sugar. They waste money on lottery tickets. They smoke weed. They self-harm. But any healthy person knows we should never take a compulsion that’s used to ease deeper pain and start celebrating it as our identity.
Now girls as young as three who like sports and trucks are being told by doctors (and celebrity moms like Charlize Theron) that they are a boy trapped in a girl’s body. They are then put on powerful, reproductive-ending hormones to stop the onset of puberty. Teenagers are having mutilating surgeries simply because they’re into things that are traditionally associated with the opposite gender. Yet gender non-conformity is the very thing scores of people fought against for decades. Girls should be able to do anything boys can do this day and age and vice versa. But now we have trans men smashing records in one girl’s athletic category after another.
Where Are the People of Faith?
And where are the so-called “people of faith” in this madness? Running scared. We don’t want to be labeled ignorant. We don’t want to be called bigots. We know that being deemed “transphobic” can quickly snowball into other adjectives like misogynist or racist.
The message from the Christian community regarding LGBTQ issues seems to be this: we just need to show Christ’s love to everyone by accepting them exactly as they are. And it’s true. Everyone has something they’re struggling with, and no one is exempt. But no one should ever be loved as they are and then left that way. Hence Christ’s final words to the woman at the well: “Go and sin no more.”
If love means supporting someone’s endeavors no matter what they are, shouldn’t we all drive our alcoholic friends to the bar tonight? Real love means speaking the truth, even when it’s not culturally cool.
And though I should not have to spell this out, I will nonetheless. Simply disagreeing with someone on an issue does not mean you are scared of or dislike all people who are on the other side of the issue. I believe transgenderism is wrong. That doesn’t make me transphobic. I believe the greatest victims of transgender ideology are the people who’ve been given the transgender label themselves.
Calling everyone who doesn’t support LGBTQ rights “transphobic” or “homophobic” is insanely ignorant. Trans people should never be made fun of or bullied in any way. They are already dealing with enough as it is; they need our help.
My brother will say that gender is just a tiny part of who he is. But for him to think that he will “still be himself” even if he is a woman is nonsense. He will no longer be a man named Josh. He will be a false caricature of a person who’s requesting that everyone around him deny reality by telling him he’s something he’s not. Of course he’ll retain his personality, his same likes and dislikes. But to say that one’s gender doesn’t ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things shows how deep the confusion goes. I wouldn’t have married my husband if he weren’t male. And as a married woman, I wouldn’t be going out to lunch alone with my girlfriends if they weren’t female.
Despite what my brother and sister-in-law would have everyone believe, the truth is this: gender matters. As the Pope said recently: “Gender is sacred.” Top bishops and cardinals have unequivocally stated that the transgender movement is demonic.
Any good branding expert knows that organizations choose their logos with much thought and care. So yes, there is a reason that the Church of Satan chose Baphomet (the half-male/half-female goat) to be its logo. The goat reminds us that supposedly we are the ultimate decision makers in our life here on earth. We are the designers of our destiny. And while God’s desires for us (like biological sex) are all good, in the end it’s the true self whose desires we must follow. Did God really say, “You have to be male”?
It’s a tale as old as time.
*The author of this true account, a wife and mother, wishes to remain anonymous. Names in this account have been changed.
I am proud to have been a credentialed minister with Open Bible Churches for over four decades. What a privilege to have served in a variety of contexts across our wonderful family of several hundred congregations in the US, along with several thousand globally. Over those decades, God has gradually expanded my understanding of what it means to belong to His Church.
I’ve enjoyed the enriching experience of embracing so many of the distinctives of what makes Open Bible, well, Open Bible: our unwavering commitment to Scripture as the inspired, authoritative Word of God; our resolve to plant and sustain healthy, vibrant local churches; our passion for the fullness and gifts of the Holy Spirit operating in our daily lives; and so much more.
And yet, with the beauty of these ecclesial distinctives so evident in our movement, I believe I have come to realize that what we share together as our core values and practices are not completely unique to us. As a matter of fact, when we take a step back and consider just who is a part of the Body of Christ, we can discover that we have much in common with our brothers and sisters across the US and around the world. It took one unexpected friendship to deepen my understanding of what it means to belong not only to Open Bible Churches, but to the Church.
A humbling experience for me has been to receive grace and love from others who are different than me even before I was prepared to offer the same to them. One example for me comes from my years as a participant in the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue. This ongoing annual conversation was begun in the 1970s by David du Plessis, the Pentecostal known as “Mr. Pentecost,” and Father Kilian McDonnell, a Catholic theologian, and continues to this day. When I attended a session of this Dialogue for the first time in 1993, I was so focused on my disagreement with Catholic doctrines and practices that I was not in a place to show much hospitality. But over the next several decades I got to know the Catholic co-chair, Father Kilian, quite well. I was amazed at how well he knew Pentecostals like me, how much he wanted to learn more, and how much he cared for us. He was respectful, honest, and compassionate. We didn’t agree on everything, obviously. But he became a mentor to me, showing me how to treat others who were different than I was. And we became friends. He passed away last year at the age of 100, and I was honored to attend his memorial service. That experience changed how I think about the global Church.
The following numbers paint a remarkable picture of the global family that shares our evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic faith. According to the 2026 Status of Global Christianity report, more than 1.1 billion Christians around the world identify as Evangelical, Pentecostal, or Charismatic. Of those, approximately 676 million are Pentecostal or Charismatic believers.
That global family is wonderfully diverse, including classical Pentecostal denominations like Open Bible Churches, independent charismatic networks, Catholic Charismatics, and charismatic believers within many Protestant traditions (Anglican, Methodist, etc.).
So why do these numbers matter? They remind us that we are part of something much larger than ourselves. We are not alone, and we are certainly not “small.” Along with our evangelical, Pentecostal, and charismatic brothers and sisters around the world, we are a fierce contingent in the Lord’s army. It’s both humbling and encouraging to remember that we belong to the CHURCH in all its vastness.
But that doesn’t mean we have to give up our wonderful heritage, culture, and beauty that make us Open Bible Churches. We have something to contribute to the rest of the Church. I’m reminded of the prophetic word delivered a few decades ago at one of our conventions: “Open Bible Churches is a vital organ in the Body of Christ!” That statement has never been more true.
“Open Bible Churches is not ‘the Church.’
Open Bible Churches is part of the Church
— a wonderful part,
but a part.”
And yet, we also do not want to be guilty of isolation or sectarianism. Open Bible Churches is not “the Church.” Open Bible Churches is part of the Church. A wonderful part, but a part. So, it is healthy for us to remember our brothers and sisters in other denominations and networks, to pray for them, and even to cooperate with them in community and regional initiatives so that together we may faithfully steward our callings and responsibilities to advance the Kingdom of God on the earth.
One of the most important ways we can grow in unity as believers is to start by acknowledging and valuing diversity in the Body of Christ. God didn’t make us all the same. Unity is not uniformity. The old adage still rings true: “in essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity; and in all things, charity.” May we agree to disagree with one another with clarity, respect, and most of all love. We can embrace grace and truth at the same time, and indeed we are called to it.
No doubt you know some followers of Jesus in your community (and probably in your own family) who do not belong to Open Bible Churches. The invitation for us all is to love them, to be grateful for all that we share with them, and to offer some space (and some grace) for our differences. This is not easy. In fact, it is hard work. Remember the words of the apostle Paul: “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:1-3 NIV). If maintaining unity was easy, Paul wouldn’t have needed to admonish us to “make every effort” to do so.
Jesus reminds us that unity isn’t just for our benefit: it’s one of the clearest testimonies to a watching world.
But if we are willing to pay the price of seeing God’s big Church, and loving it the way He does, we’ll be more Christlike, and we’ll participate in being an answer to one of the last prayers Jesus prayed before He went to the cross on our behalf: “…that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23 NIV). Jesus reminds us that unity isn’t just for our benefit: it’s one of the clearest testimonies to a watching world.
Together, let’s allow the Lord to give us eyes to see the breadth and beauty of His Church, recognizing and loving our brothers and sisters in Christ in such an obvious way that we actually become answers to the prayer of Jesus in John 17. Amen?
Here are a few resources that explore some of these issues related to Christian Unity:
That They May Be One – Podcast
That They May Be One – Film
PCCNA Christian Unity Commission
Forum for Unity
International Charismatic Consultation
Global Christian Forum
About the Author
David Cole has been a credentialed minister with Open Bible Churches since 1984. He is currently Professor of Historical Theology at The King’s University in Southlake, Texas. He is also involved in a variety of initiatives related to his calling to encourage the pursuit of unity among believers in Jesus, and to that end currently serves as chair of the Christian Unity Commission with the Pentecostal/
Charismatic Churches of North America. He and his wife, Julie, are parents of four, grandparents of ten, and are currently located in Newberg, Oregon, where they attend College Street Church.
I woke up unable to speak. A breathing tube filled my throat. Machines surrounded my hospital bed. I was confused, intubated, and lying in an ICU room with no memory of how I got there. But strangely, I was not afraid. In the middle of the chaos, God gave me an unexplainable peace.
I motioned desperately for paper and pencil so I could ask two questions: What happened? And where is George?
My son’s father explained that I had been in a serious car accident. The car was completely destroyed. I had been found trapped beneath the steering wheel with severe facial injuries.
That morning — January 22, 2026 — had started like any other Thursday. I got ready for work, buckled my 18-month-old son George into his car seat, and pulled out of the driveway expecting an ordinary day.
It became anything but ordinary.
My neighbor, who had left home at the same time I did, later explained what happened. We were both driving around fifteen miles per hour when the car I was driving suddenly lost control. I still do not know why, and I have no memory of the moment itself.
By the grace of God, George was almost completely untouched.
The car hit a cement light pole, crossed into oncoming traffic, and was struck head-on by another vehicle. Both vehicles spun, and the car I was driving slammed into another cement light pole.
By the grace of God, George was almost completely untouched.
The back windshield shattered directly above him, yet the glass never harmed him because of the position his car seat landed in. The entire back left side of the car was crushed inward, but George had been seated on the back right side. Even now, I can only thank God for His protection.
I was taken by ambulance to the hospital and admitted into the Trauma ICU. Doctors told my family that I had suffered severe head trauma resulting in a brain bleed. I was also bleeding internally in my abdominal area, and they began preparing my family for the possible loss of my pregnancy.
… the doctors did not know the God my family and I serve — and how merciful He is.
But the doctors did not know the God my family and I serve — and how merciful He is.
My family immediately began to pray. Members of my church, Open Bible Church of Homestead, began arriving at the hospital, and soon an entire army of people was interceding for me.
During those first two days, I drifted in and out of consciousness and remember very little. But one moment remains clear in my mind: I heard the song “I Surrender” by Hillsong Worship playing in my hospital room. The lyrics, “Like a rushing wind, Jesus breathe within, Lord have Your way, Lord have Your way in me,” stayed with me and brought a deep sense of comfort in the middle of everything happening around me. In that moment, those words became my prayer as I quietly prayed, “I leave this in Your hands.”
After three days in the ICU, I was successfully extubated and began making remarkable progress. Ultrasounds showed a happy, active baby, and the bleeding had stopped.
On the fourth day, I was transferred out of the ICU into intermediate care before eventually moving to the medical-surgical floor. Doctors then began preparing me for maxillofacial surgery to reconstruct my face after multiple fractures.
On January 30, I underwent an eight-hour surgery. By God’s grace, the procedure was successful, and another ultrasound afterward showed my unborn baby remained active and healthy. On February 3, I was finally discharged and able to return home.
Since then, my recovery has gone smoothly. I am now twenty-eight weeks pregnant and waiting expectantly for the arrival of my baby. Through every frightening moment, God gave me strength and peace, and I never doubted His mercy.
Today, I am a living testimony of His grace.
About the Author
Thammy Castro is a behavior technician living in Miami and a soon-to-be mother of two. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her family. She is a member of Open Bible Church of Homestead, where her parents, Jose and Maria Castro, serve as pastors.
There has been much discussion about the future of the Church. While I’m not a futurist or researcher, I’m grateful for voices that help us think wisely about pursuing the mission of the Church in an ever-changing culture. Researchers like Ed Stetzer and Carey Nieuwhof highlight some encouraging trends, such as revivals on college campuses, rising Bible sales, and Gen Z’s hunger for authentic faith.
I carry deep conviction and a faith-filled anticipation about what I see and am praying for. When I think about the Church and the days ahead, I don’t see a Church in retreat, but I do see a Church being refined – prepared for what God is getting ready to do. A victorious and glorious Church (Eph. 5:27).
When I think about the Church and the days ahead, I don’t see a Church in retreat, but I do see a Church being refined.
Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18 ESV). That promise has no expiration date. Jesus is still building His Church today.
As the church advances, it will not stand on programs, buildings, or production. . . it will be built on the authority of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Across the body of Christ, there is a growing recognition that the future of the Church will not be built by addition alone, but by multiplication. Disciples will make disciples, leaders will develop and release leaders, and churches will plant churches. There are many voices helping to bring clarity to this, and we are seeing that same conviction take shape within Open Bible through our Mission to Multiply and the Power of We.
So, when I think about the Church and what is ahead of us, what do I see?
I SEE A MULTIPLYING CHURCH
We often measure success by attendance, budgets, and programs. While salvations and baptisms remain central, we must expand the scorecard. As Larry Walkemeyer describes in The River Church, we must move from “lake churches” that gather to “river churches” that send – becoming disciple makers who multiply.
The book of Acts shows us a model of a church that did not just meet but multiplied. The future will not belong to churches that simply gather a crowd, but it will belong to churches that make and send disciple makers. Jesus did not commission us to build an audience. He commanded us to go and make disciples (Matt. 28:19). Multiplication begins there – in intentional, relational, Spirit-led disciple making.
Multiplication is not just a strategy or a motto we adopt. It is the culture of Spirit-empowered, disciple-making churches. The Church I see measures health not only by attendance, but by how many are discipled, equipped, and sent to reproduce what’s been invested in them. This is our Mission to Multiply.
I SEE A SPIRIT-EMPOWERED CHURCH
We live in a time of rapid change. Technology, AI, and social media shape how we communicate and connect. These tools can be helpful, but they don’t transform lives. The Holy Spirit does.
These tools can be helpful, but they don’t transform lives. The Holy Spirit does.
Pentecost was Heaven’s defining moment for the birth of the Church and the fulfillment of what Jesus said in Acts 1:8. The early followers of Jesus did not have the influence, resources, or tools we have today. What they had was the power of God. That has not changed!
In the days ahead, more than ever, the Church will move forward not through innovation alone but through consecration. The church I see is unapologetically dependent on the Spirit of God.
I SEE A COURAGEOUS CHURCH
In the book of Acts, every step forward required courage – Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, Stephen in the face of death, Peter going to Cornelius’s home, the sending out of Paul and Barnabas. These were not small steps; they were courageous steps across cultural and spiritual boundaries. The early Church moved from gathering to going, from addition to multiplication. The expansion of the early Church was not accidental. It followed obedience and courage.
The Church I see will walk in that same Spirit.
Courage to preach the truth in love.
Courage to plant in hard places.
Courage to raise and release the next generation.
Courage to choose multiplication over comfort.
Courage to link arms with others for the sake of the greater mission.
Courage to build the Kingdom over our own castles.
We can stand on His promise and by His Spirit knowing “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV).
I SEE THE POWER OF WE
As we look forward, one of the strongest convictions I carry is this: our future will be stronger through the Power of We.
Individualism limits impact; partnership multiplies it. When we share vision, develop leaders, and align around mission, we step into something far greater than any one church could accomplish alone. I believe the future Church will not thrive through isolation but will flourish through collaboration. The church I see understands that “we” is stronger than “me.”
When we share vision, develop leaders, and align around mission, we step into something far greater than any one church could accomplish alone.
I am confident in what God has called us to:
The church that makes disciple makers will multiply.
The church that depends on the Holy Spirit will endure.
The church that walks in courage will advance. This is the church I see, and I believe we are being invited to build it together.
About the Author
Michael Nortune serves as president of Open Bible Churches. He has ministered in the local church faithfully for thirty-five years. From his start as a janitor and groundskeeper to church planter and lead pastor of Life Church in Concord, California, Michael has had the opportunity to gain experience in every capacity within the church throughout his ministry. Not only does he have hands-on experience on the local level, but Michael has also led at the district, regional, and national levels within Open Bible Churches. Michael and his wife, Julie, currently reside in Colorado and love living near five of their six children and their spouses. They also treasure the time they spend with their other daughter who lives in Alabama with their first (but not the last) grandson!