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Gender Madness

Commentary by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The current cultural shift regarding gender represents a profound departure from reality, descending into what can only be described as madness. This gender madness, evident in the proliferation of bizarre identities, reflects various mental disorders, a state once plainly called craziness or being out of one's mind. With lists of over a hundred supposed genders, including notions tied to cosmic or infinite concepts, the absurdity is clear. We are allowing the inmates to run the cultural asylum, embracing a chaos that defies common sense and truth. God help us to remain steadfast as this age approaches its end, facing even greater challenges promised to come.

Nonsense and Senselessness

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Modern society, particularly in the United States, appears to have descended into a kind of collective madness—a departure from the sound reasoning and practical wisdom that once characterized a nation of pioneers and achievers who filled a continent, fed the world, and reached the moon. Where such accomplishments once rested on knowledge and reason applied toward workable solutions, soundness of mind has become rare. Rather than facts and outcomes, decisions across many areas of life are now driven by manipulated hopes and fears, with people easily swayed by superficial charm, enthusiasm, and clever persuasion instead of substance. This irrationality manifests in numerous specific ways: the termination of 1.2 million unborn children annually in a nation that claims to value life and liberty; the legalization of euthanasia; the spread of homosexual unions across several states without regard for their societal consequences; and the presence of millions of illegal aliens straining resources while demanding more, sowing lawlessness. Financial madness compounds these moral and social failures—Americans carry enormous personal debt, save almost nothing, and pour money into lotteries and casinos despite terrible odds, often those least able to afford such losses. Even homes, once the most stable of investments, are abandoned to banks when their value collapses. Physical self-destruction mirrors this pattern of unsound choices. Despite widespread complaints about healthcare costs, people continue to indulge in high-calorie, high-fat, high-sugar food, coupled with sedentary living, smoking, heavy drinking, sexual promiscuity, and other risky behaviors. The predictable results—obesity, stress, and illness—have swollen the healthcare industry into a massive sector of the economy, and the proposed political solution to this crisis is itself judged to be absurd and irrational, as noted through commentary such as Rush Limbaugh's remarks on the matter. Against this backdrop of societal madness, a contrast is drawn for God's spiritual people, His church, who need not be swept into this plague of irrationality. Scripture affirms that God has not given believers a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, and that they possess the mind of Christ, enabling them to see, ponder, and choose rightly with wisdom and foresight. This equips Christians to expose the nonsense of the world and to offer the proven answers found in God's Word. The call is to walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil, and to understand what the will of the Lord is. As confusion and nonsense continue to mount in the world, believers are urged to seek God and His Word without delay, for what alone makes eternal sense amid a world that has lost its senses.

Order in the Midst of Chaos

Sermonette by Joseph B. Baity

God can restore order without us, but He wants to share the project with us, enabling us to become little oases of God's order during unbelievable chaos.

Has America Gone Crazy? (Part Two)

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

The question of whether America has "gone crazy" frames an examination of modern social and political behavior, particularly the proliferation of some thirty distinct gender categories where only two existed for six thousand years of human history. Such multiplication of categories does not bring clarity but confusion, since the original biological distinction between male and female, based on observable physical characteristics, has been subdivided through the addition of psychological attributes. This expansion is fueled by those who believe they gain personally from adopting new identities, by media outlets that profit from reporting sensational news, and by politicians who pander to these movements to secure votes and maintain public visibility. Examining the word "crazy" itself proves illuminating: it originally meant "full of cracks," carrying connotations of being flawed, unsound, or impractical. Over time, its meaning shifted toward psychological conditions, becoming associated with madness, insanity, and unusual behavior. In contemporary usage, calling something "crazy" signals an exaggerated, often transient enthusiasm or obsession, a warning to handle the person or situation with caution and distrust. This transformation of the term's meaning parallels the disorienting transformation occurring in society itself, where behaviors once considered flawed or unsound are now embraced as progressive advancement. This craziness is understood as one more attention-getting bandwagon, a mass social movement that has been gaining momentum for decades and shows no sign of stopping except through Jesus Christ's return or societal collapse into civil war. What makes this movement so successful is that it appeals directly to inborn carnality, while simultaneously benefiting from the most advanced media technology in history to advertise its supposed advantages. This movement is known by various names, including humanism, secularism, and most broadly, liberalism, a term that is deceptive because it does not inherently signify evil but depends entirely on context for its moral valence. The connection between this societal madness and a larger spiritual reality becomes explicit through the identification of Satan, described in Ezekiel 28, as the first being pointedly shown as liberal in thinking. His departure from the broad standard of behavior God established, a standard that allowed considerable latitude for righteous self-expression while maintaining boundaries beyond which lay sin and death, stemmed from self-centeredness, the very essence of carnality. Liberalism as a mindset and movement is thus attributed to having been designed by the mind of Satan the Devil. The apparent madness of contemporary gender confusion and social upheaval, therefore, is not merely a cultural curiosity but is connected to a much deeper spiritual pattern rooted in self-centered deviation from divine order, one that stands in stark contrast to genuine devotion to Jesus Christ, who commands no bandwagon effect and offers no such carnal appeal.

How Prepared Are You?

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

As we prepare for the coming disasters resulting from cracks in our national character, it behooves us to get our physical and spiritual families in order.

The Point of No Return

Commentary by Joseph B. Baity

Even before COVID-19, Americans were gripped by anxiety, fear, and depression, pointing to an unrecognized but quickly spreading mental health pandemic.

COVID-19 and Returning to Normal

Commentary by David C. Grabbe

While we naturally desire to 'get back to normal,' what the United States experienced before COVID-19 was hardly normal when viewed from God's perspective.

Standards

Sermonette by

God commands that we use accurate measurements and just standards. Without Godly standards, we have a world without ethics or morality.

Truth Has Fallen in the Streets

Commentary by Clyde Finklea

Israelites have reached a time when truth has perished and the legal system has turned justice aside, praising the wicked while persecuting the righteous.

Our Moral Bearings Lost

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

America's leaders have lost their moral compass. God has replaced wise adults with foolish children mocking and scoffing at wisdom and moral standards.

What's the Endgame?

Commentary by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Leaders will use crises to consolidate their power and further their agenda. The real devastation may occur after the coronavirus runs its course.

Has America Gone Crazy? (Part Three)

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Those being molded by today's education system lack the historical context to permit them to grasp how it is twisting their impressionable minds.

Who Is the 'God of This World'? (Part One)

Sermonette by

Translators use a lowercase "g" in "god of this age [or, world]" in II Corinthians 4:4, yet it is the true God who blinds; He alone opens and closes eyes.

Follow the Herd?

Commentary by Mark Schindler

Greed has caused panic buying and selling of pharmaceutical stocks and has spawned a booming vaccine industry coupled with shameless scientific fraud.

Spiritual Blindness (Part One): The God of This World

'Prophecy Watch' by David C. Grabbe

The true God is consistently and exclusively shown to blind while working out His purposes, so who is the '[G]od of this world' (II Corinthians 4:4)?

Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Thirty-Five): Ecclesiastes 9:13-10:4

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Explore Genesis 1:31 and Ecclesiastes 9-10: the fall from innocence, wisdom's limits in a flawed world, and guidance on handling folly in leadership wisely.

Are We Already In Captivity?

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Major curses, including economic oppression, famine, pestilence, mental illness, alien invasion, the scattering of modern Israel are yet to occur.

The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Two Demon-Possessed Men Healed (Part Three)

Bible Study by Martin G. Collins

Jesus performed numerous exorcisms of demons, like His casting out of the evil spirits from the men near Gadara. Once freed, these men changed significantly.

Ecclesiastes Resumed (Part Thirty-Four): Ecclesiastes 9:2-12

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Although some try to make their lives easier by compromising, Solomon warns that all evil leads to death, and that doing evil in any circumstance is insane.