A Manifesto for Wholeness in a Fractured World: A Reformed Biblical Vision for Identity, Suffering, and Community

Preamble: Our Foundation

We confess that the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—created humanity male and female in His image, endowed with dignity, purpose, and ordered design. The Fall corrupted every aspect of creation, including our bodies, emotions, and identities. Redemption in Christ offers reconciliation with God and the restoration of our humanity, though full renewal awaits the coming Kingdom.

In an age of confusion, therapeutic individualism, and identity fragmentation, we affirm a vision of human flourishing grounded in Scripture, guided by Reformed theology, and lived out in covenantal community.

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I. On Reality and Design

We believe that biological sex (male and female) is a creational good, ordained by God as part of His wise and purposeful design for human embodiment, procreation, and complementary fellowship. To speak of “male and female” is not to reduce persons to mere biology, but to acknowledge the gracious architecture of God’s world.

We deny that biological sex is arbitrary, fluid, or self-defined. We also deny that our physical bodies are accidental or incidental to our identity. We are embodied souls, not disembodied wills.

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II. On Suffering and the Human Condition

We acknowledge that suffering—including the profound distress of gender dysphoria—is a real and grievous effect of the Fall. Such suffering is not to be mocked, minimized, or ignored. It calls for compassion, patience, and steadfast love.

We reject both the stoic dismissal of emotional pain and the hedonistic pursuit of relief at any cost. Suffering is not ultimate, but it is meaningful: it can drive us to dependence on God, refine character, and deepen empathy.

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III. On Identity and Authenticity

We affirm that our primary identity is found in Christ—as forgiven sinners, adopted children of God, and members of His body. This identity is received, not achieved; it is covenantal, not curated.

We deny that “authenticity” means expressing every internal impulse or identifying with every deep feeling. The heart is deceitful; emotions, though real, are not infallible guides. True authenticity is conformity to the image of Christ, not capitulation to subjective experience.

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IV. On Community and Responsibility

We uphold the church as a family of mutual care, discipline, and nurture. We are called to bear one another’s burdens, speak truth in love, and model life together under Christ’s lordship.

We reject radical individualism that places personal desire above communal good, and we equally reject collectivism that crushes the individual. We are responsible both for our own choices and for the welfare of our brothers and sisters.

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V. On Healing and Medical Ethics

We affirm that medicine is a gift of God’s common grace to alleviate suffering and mend brokenness. Medical interventions may be used prudently to restore health and function—but not to redesign the body according to autonomous desire or to attempt to alter the fundamental reality of male or female.

We deny that “gender-affirming” medical interventions that seek to alter healthy sexual characteristics are ethically neutral or morally acceptable. Such treatments often reinforce a false anthropology, cause irreversible bodily harm, and obstruct the path of finding peace in God’s design.

We commit to offering compassionate, truthful care to those experiencing gender distress—care that addresses trauma, treats co-occurring conditions, supports chastity, and points to the hope of the Gospel.

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VI. On Truth and Compassion

We will speak truth with humility, knowing we too are broken and in need of grace. We will listen before we speak, weep with those who weep, and walk patiently with those in turmoil.

We will not sacrifice truth for the sake of cultural approval, nor will we wield truth as a weapon to shame the vulnerable. We reject both progressive sentimentalism and reactionary harshness.

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VII. On Witness in a Confused Agee

We recognize that our culture has largely abandoned a Christian vision of the human person. In response, we will not retreat into enclaves of resentment, nor will we assimilate to the spirit of the age.

Instead, we will:

· Build faithful families and churches where biblical manhood and womanhood are modeled with joy.

· Engage public discourse with courage and clarity, advocating for the protection of children from experimental medical ideologies.

· Support those who struggle with gender confusion through prayer, practical help, and Gospel hope—never abandoning them to walk alone.

· Proclaim that Jesus Christ offers a better story: not self-actualization, but redemption; not autonomy, but joyful submission; not a curated identity, but a received inheritance.

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Conclusion: Our Hope

Our hope is not in psychology, politics, or medical technology. Our hope is in the resurrected Christ, who will one day make all things new—including our bodies, our identities, and our desires.

Until then, we live as pilgrims: anchored in Scripture, tethered to the church, and looking forward with longing to the day when every tear will be wiped away, and every fractured heart made whole.

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“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

—Romans 12:2

“For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

—1 Corinthians 6:20

In Search of Wholeness: A Biblical View of Identity in a Broken World

Today, conversations about identity are everywhere—and they are often deeply personal, painful, and polarizing. From classrooms to social media, from surgeries to church halls, we’re being asked big questions:

3 Lies Your Kids Want To Believe

https://youtu.be/WKobdoB5STs?si=qpmtJtIk7DmEYm-P 

"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear."

- Thomas Sowell

The Enemies of God’s Plan and His People

The Doctrine of Satan and Demons

Even though the entertainment industry capitalizes on the ongoing conflict between good and evil, few people truly understand the spiritual forces behind that clash. In the distant past, Satan led a large angelic force in rebellion against God.1 Throughout human history, Satan has opposed God’s people, His plan, and His Son. Only Satan’s fury can explain the uncanny and repeated hatred spewed against God’s people—the Jews and believers in every age. Satan unsuccessfully sought to eliminate Jesus in Bethlehem2 and tempted Jesus to seek glory apart from the cross.3 Though a terrible enemy, Satan does not share God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, or omniscience. Because of Christ’s death on the cross, Satan remains a defeated foe who will unscrupulously deceive and destroy people until his final and inevitable defeat when Christ returns. 

Haman’s deadly scheme reflects Satan’s desire to eliminate the Israelites, through whom God had promised to send the Messiah as humanity’s Savior. Satan prowls the earth, looking for ways to deceive and devour people4 and defeat God, which he cannot do, even in the final battle at Armageddon.5 While Satan wreaks havoc upon God’s people, he cannot and will not ultimately defeat them.6 

People fall prey to Satan’s masterful deception when they fail to understand His insidious nature. He knows the sinful appetites of fallen humanity and seeks to turn people away from God. With cunning strategy and manipulation, Satan makes sin look appealing and following God appear foolish. He does everything he can to keep people enslaved to sin and his power. His evil influence should not be underestimated. 

God’s people should guard against Satan’s deception but primarily focus on God’s overcoming power. Aware of Satan’s temptation and wily ways, God’s people trust the Holy Spirit for power to resist him.7 God will prevail over every deadly strike of an already defeated foe. How will you trust God as you seek to live unswervingly for Him in this world? God is stronger than Satan. God lives within His people. In His power, they can overcome.

1. Satan’s fall: Luke 10:18; 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 12:7-8 
2. Murder at Bethlehem: Matthew 2:16-18 
3. Satan and Jesus: Matthew 4:1-11; 16:22-23 
4. Satan’s deception: John 8:44; 1 Peter 5:8-9 
5. Armageddon: Revelation 16:16 
6. Ultimate victory for God’s people: Matthew 16:18 
7. Resisting Satan: James 4:7

God Breaks The Man He Wants To Use

 

Voddie Baucham March 11, 1969 - September 25, 2025

 

John MacArthur 1939-2025

On July 14, Pastor John MacArthur’s faith became sight, as he entered into the eternal presence of his Savior. He had been dealing with some significant health challenges dating back to early 2023, and God, in His perfect wisdom, determined that John had completed his earthly ministry. John is survived by his wife Patricia, his children Matt, Marcy, Mark, and Melinda, and their spouses, along with fifteen grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. He was eighty-six years old.

For more than fifty-six years, John served as the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. The emphasis of his pulpit ministry was the careful study and verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture. Under his leadership, the church grew to several thousand members, providing ample opportunities to train up men for ministry and the resources to send more than one hundred missionary families into the field.

John’s faithfulness in the pulpit also resulted in a prolific writing ministry. Books like The Gospel According to Jesus, Our Sufficiency in Christ, Ashamed of the Gospel, Slave, Twelve Ordinary Men, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore, The Truth War, The Vanishing Conscience, Strange Fire, The War on Children, and many more were the products of John’s verse-by-verse Bible teaching. In 2015, John completed The MacArthur New Testament Commentary series—thirty-four volumes covering every verse of the New Testament. Without a doubt, the cornerstone resource of John’s ministry is The MacArthur Study Bible, which provides nearly 25,000 study notes to help readers better understand what Scripture says and means. First published in 1997, it is now available in several English translations, as well as Spanish, Russian, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, and Chinese.

From John’s earliest days at Grace Church, his sermons were recorded for the sake of homebound church members. Eventually those recordings made it onto Christian radio, and the ministry of Grace to You was born. Today the sun never sets on John MacArthur’s preaching, as the Grace to You radio broadcast airs around the globe in both English and Spanish. His full sermon library is available for free download.

In 1985, John became president of what is now known as The Master’s University (formerly Los Angeles Baptist College, then The Master’s College until 2016). Located in Santa Clarita, California, it is a distinctly Christian, accredited, liberal arts institution offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Through the decades under John’s leadership—first as president, then as chancellor, the University developed into one of the premier academic institutes in the country, equipping thousands of young men and women for the work of God’s kingdom with an education grounded in His Word.

When John came to Grace Church, he told the elders he wanted to do two things: preach the Word of God and train up other men to do likewise. To that end, in 1986, he founded The Master’s Seminary, a graduate school on the campus of Grace Community Church dedicated to training men for full-time pastoral and missionary work. To date, the school has graduated more than two thousand men who are faithfully ministering across the United States and in almost seventy other countries around the world.

Much of that global work takes place through another ministry that John has helped establish and lead, The Master’s Academy International. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a group of Ukrainian pastors requested John’s help in withstanding the flood of false doctrine that was sweeping into the country. In 1991, graduates from The Master’s Seminary began training pastors in the Ukraine. Nearly thirty-five years later, more than nine hundred pastors across the country have been trained. That school, which continues to this day, became the model for what would become The Master’s Academy International. Officially founded in 2004, there are currently nineteen member schools operating all around the globe, with plans to add several more in the coming years.

Through the years, many individuals have approached John with a desire to support these ministries in their areas of greatest need. In response to this growing request, the John MacArthur Charitable Trust was formed in 2017 with the sole purpose of providing support for the ongoing and expanding work to the MacArthur family of ministries.

In God’s providence, all of that—and much more—has been the direct result of John MacArthur’s pulpit ministry. As he often said, it was beyond anything he could have ever planned or schemed to create on his own. He focused on the depth of the ministry and left the breadth of it to God. “Faithfulness,” he said, “is its own reward.” Only heaven will fully reveal the rich harvest God has brought forth through the faithfulness of John MacArthur.

“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7).

Source: GTY.org