Your problem with acceptance does not lie with men and institutions but rather with God. It is His word that we are required to observe and not the opinions of men. If I am addicted to Heroin or alcohol it is my responsibility to lay down those activities I am involved in that I might then follow the Way that leads to life. Jesus meets us all where we are but He requires change. The Bible states that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and causes us to repent. John the Baptist came preaching repentance and Jesus continued to preach repentance. He told the Samaritan woman at the well that He was aware of her many lovers and husbands. He then told her that He was the living water that she needed so desperately. You see she was looking for completion, love, and acceptance in all the wrong places. What you need will never come from cross dressing only from Jesus love for you. You cannot full fill a spiritual need with something temporal. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. This scripture simply means that sin is our own way and God's word describes His way. Glory is the manifested character of God. Could you imagine God the father cross dressing?
If you are going to be a follower of Christ then you must follow His ways found in His word. If not then you should write your own bible and follow it. We must have a standard of truth and righteousness and then follow it or we can eliminate the word repentance. The book of Proverbs warns us not to remove ancient landmarks or one will find oneself lost in a world of relativity. Look around you and see a world that is living according to it's own standard. Do you like what you see? Jesus came to show us all the Way for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Repent, turn around from your ways and follow His. You can sit in a church, belong to a church or even become a preacher and it won't change you. It's like standing in a garage thinking you will become a car. Repent and be born again. Only then will you find what it is you are now missing.
His Servant
David
Dear David,
You asked if I, "Could you imagine God the father cross dressing?" Well, I don't know if God is the father of it but I don't know where He condemns me for doing it.
I can only find one reference to it in the Bible -- "A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing." Deuteronomy 22:5. There are two common interpretations of the text. One is that it was a prohibition of the cross-dressing that was done in some pagan worship services and it was mostly about the worshipping of false gods. The other is that women sometimes dressed like men to participate in worship service activities that were reserved for men; hence the prohibition listed women first. Given that background, how does cross-dressing put me in danger of damnation?
What do you think?
Richard
Dear Richard,
I refer you back to the simplicity of the message I previously sent. This whole matter revolves around relationship. Maybe some of the condemnation you feel and believe comes from others is simply the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Is God so confused that He would create you a man and then dress you as a woman? The scripture that you refer to means what it says and says what it means. The Holy Spirit is the author of the Word so why don't you ask Him what this scripture means. You see if you are in relationship to God then scripture is alive and speaks to you. If not then the carnal mind cannot understand the meaning. After living as a missionary in Israel for an extended time I could never imagine an Orthodox Jew dressing as a woman. One of the ways to understand this is by understanding the meaning of "Thou shalt not lie" or "thou shalt not bear false witness' or "thou shalt not covet". At the heart of these mitzvah or commands is the concept of deception. Get the picture?
Why is it that all of us have such a hard time accepting who we are and who God is? You asked me another question in this email but you avoided a lot of the questions I put to you in the email I sent you. You must be willing to approach the Word of God openly without trying to make it prove what you want it to. The fact is that what you are doing is an aberration according to the Word and Ways of God. I can never prove what is right to you and even the Bible warns us not to argue and contend over the Word of God. I do believe that you find yourself under conviction about this or you wouldn't be sending out this email. You might try rereading the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and see that it was full of aberrations that were not acceptable to God. God extends His mercy to us in the Cross and asks us to repent. If we will not relieve it we are bound for His judgement which is designed to bring His order into our lives. Finally if we will not receive either His mercy or Judgement comes the Day of the Lord which is total destruction. Hell was never created for man but for fallen Angels. It is simply a place where you can have your own way, do your own thing and be left alone without God. Cross Dressing is not your problem, your problem is a lack of a Living Relationship with Jesus. When you enter in to that relationship then He will answer your question personally. Until then you will continue to stumble around looking for external justification for your ways and you will remain lost in the land of relativity. Only when you see that He wants you to let Him have control of your life and you are willing to surrender everything, only then, will you find peace. Then all of your questions will be answered.
You have been lied to by the spirit of religion who is a one eyed monster from Hell. Jesus, relationship with Him, is the Way, Truth, and the Life. Repent of walking in your own ways and receive Jesus.
His Servant
An Apostle of Jesus after the will of God,
David
P.S. If these two emails do not convince you of the errors of you ways then I suggest you find a local pastor who is full of the Spirit of God and not religion and then listen to Him.
Dear David,
I believe that I have a right relationship with God -- now. For a long time I didn't for a variety of reasons. As I worked through those issues, one continued to elude me and that was the question of cross-dressing. I had always experienced automatic condemnation as being an unrepentant sinner. After extensive study of the differing views of the Bible and working to understand myself, I concluded that what was going on with me was not subject to condemnation. I have a great deal to confess and ask for forgiveness and find myself doing so regularly. I didn't address that in this case because I don't think it applies. Here is my thinking.
I believe it is wrong for "The Church" to look at Deut 22:5 and automatically brand a cross-dresser as a sinner. I have read many commentaries and there are multiple interpretations. Some state clearly that cross-dressing is a sin. Others state clearly that it isn't about cross-dressing. Others list several other things that they believe that the prohibition is really about and don't take a firm stance on either side of the question. With that great variety of interpretation, how can "the church" take an absolute stand?
I believe that they need to look at the specific circumstances to see what is really going on with the individual person. While we commonly use one single label to cover all cross-dressers, there is an almost infinite variety of people and circumstances, some of which would absolutely curl your hair but others that are really quite harmless from almost any perspective.
So, my whole point is to work to put a stop to the universal branding of any kind of cross-dressing as a sin requiring repentance and at least being open to consider the idea that the Bible may not actually be condemning a man simply for wearing a dress. I hope you can understand and accept that position. If the church took that approach, then cross-dressers would be able to have a discussion about what is going on and deal with it in a constructive way.
Richard
Obviously your communication is one sided. You speak but do not respond to any of the questions put to you. I told you in my last that I could not help you in your effort to rewrite the Word of God. The church can accept you until whenever but they will not be the one that judges you. That one will be Jesus. As an Apostle of Jesus I will not only speak with authority to the Church about this sin but I will also instruct others in the five-fold ministry to do the same. You have been blinded Richard and your so-called attempt to communicate is merely a ruse to attempt to sell your position. Do not bother me any longer with this silliness. I was willing to try to communicate with you but you have never responded to anything I have questioned you about. You emailed me to begin with not I you. I will continue to take a vigorous stand against this perversion and all other perversions of sin. Repent!
His Servant,
David
Dear David,
If there are any questions that you wish me to answer about my cross-dressing, I will do my best to answer them. Just re ask please. At the same time you didn't respond to my direct questions about interpretation of Deut 22:5. My desire is to reach an understanding of the proper interpretation of that verse and believe that is a valuable objective. If you interpret a serious attempt to properly determine what the Word of God says as "silliness" the I guess is silly. Here is some of the material regarding the verse in question. Again, with all of the varied views, it seems to me that the church is in error if it routinely condemns any sort of cross-dressing without trying to understand the context.
Some commentaries take an absolute position that cross-dressing is wrong, PERIOD. For example -
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown - "It is probable that a reference was made to unbecoming levities practiced in common life. They were properly forbidden; for the adoption of the habiliments of the one sex by the other is an outrage on decency, obliterates the distinctions of nature by fostering softness and effeminacy in the man, impudence and boldness in the woman, as well as levity and hypocrisy in both; and, in short, opens the door to an influx of so many evils, that all who wear the dress of another sex are pronounced an abomination unto the Lord."
Barnes' Notes - "The distinction between the sexes is natural and divinely established, and cannot be neglected without indecorum and consequent danger to purity."
Others take the position that the verse is ABSOLUTELY NOT ABOUT THAT. For example -
J.A. Thompson -- "this law in its original setting has no direct implication for modern life..."
Adam Clarke -- "It certainly cannot mean a simple change in dress, whereby men might pass for women, and vice versa. This would have been impossible in those countries where the dress of the sexes had but little to distinguish it, and where every man wore a long beard."
Zondervan -- "The prohibition against a woman wearing men's clothing and vice versa can scarcely refer to transvestism. Most probably illicit sexual practices..."
And the vast majority are somewhere in-between. I just believe that what all of this means is that rather than simply condemning a cross-dresser, we need to take a look at the specifics of each case before rushing to judgment. Wouldn't Jesus take the time to look at the person?
Sincerely,
Richard
Please keep your cross dressing Gospel to your self and leave me alone with it. I told you in the last email I did not want to hear from you again. You will stand before God for judgement and not me. I told you before that Duet. 22:5 speaks for itself and explained to you in detail why. You are not communicating you are only propagating a lie and we know who the father of all lies is. Repent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You said you had a relationship with God but it is on your terms not his (Duet 25) That is not a relationship! I also got no response from you about the issue of deception. I am busy helping people who want help. The devils job is to bring diversion and confusion and you are serving him well. You started this process but emailing me I never solicited your email.
Perhaps you are also confused about etiquette as well as cross dressing. I have asked you once before to stop emailing me the next time I will take action to stop you!
Sincerely,
Rev. David