The Olympics are awesome! The summer games are particularly interesting—with lesser-known sports like fencing, water polo, badminton, and table tennis getting time in the spotlight. Another enjoyable part of watching the games is the attention given to women’s sports and female athletes.

Lydia Jacoby, the first swimmer from Alaska to make an Olympic team and win a gold medal, is a great example. Her stunning upset in the 100-meter breaststroke set off a tumultuous celebration among her friends and family (I agree with Mike Tirico who called their response the best moment of the games so far). Lydia is a 17-year old who just graduated from high school and is on her way to the University of Texas. Let’s hope we see her again in four years.

Let’s also hope, the next time she dives into an Olympic pool, she only competes against women. Laurel Hubbard, a weight lifter from New Zealand, is the first transgender athlete to compete in the Olympics. Laurel competed as a man as recently as 2013, but her gender-selection process now means she competes as a woman. While Laurel may or may not win a medal, her presence marks the beginning of the end of women’s sports. Men competing as women will eventually dominate so-called “women’s sports.”

The transgender movement is demanding men who identify as women be allowed to compete as their gender of choice. While this problem is embryonic right now, it will flourish in the next decade as the current push to allow pre-teens to switch genders produces self-identified females who were born as males. Despite the progress women have made competing against women, biology means male athletes will dominate female athletes. Testosterone and male muscle structure really do matter in athletic performance.

While some states are passing laws to force people to compete according to their birth gender, is there any reasonable expectation those laws will hold up in court? Not likely, given the way gender-switching has been accommodated thus far in other fields. And, even if they do, these laws are not enforceable in a global context.

The feminist movement should be at the forefront of protecting women by insisting these laws be upheld. But they are in an awkward spot. They have celebrated lesbians who redefined sexual mores and demanded sexual behavior be a protected class. Consistency requires them to now embrace self-identified women who join their movement by also redefining their sexuality. In doing so, they are eliminating opportunities for women they once protected and promoted.

When a culture or country rejects God’s clear standards on sexual behavior and gender assignment, the immediate results often seem manageable. But the long-term consequences will be devastating. Women will once again be marginalized by men who take their place, limit their opportunities, and demoralize women who would have enjoyed competing and succeeding against their peers. That’s a sad change—not only for female athletes but for all of us.


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Perspective: SBC 2023

Dr. Iorg discusses what unites the SBC in light of next week’s annual convention.

Jeff Iorg
President
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.

Intentionality

 The greatest problem in our world is lostness. The only solution to lostness is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jeff Iorg
President
Dr. Jeff Iorg is the president of Gateway Seminary. Prior to his service at the Seminary, Dr. Iorg was the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention for almost ten years. He was also the founding pastor of Greater Gresham Baptist Church in Gresham, Oregon, and has served as a pastor in Missouri and a staff pastor in Texas.

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Lead On Podcast
June 4, 2023

“Life is Curriculum”: How Leaders Grow after Seminary

Dr. Iorg encourages leaders to continue growing after Seminary. He identifies seven ways to cultivate and work towards spiritual maturity. 

Lead On Podcast
May 28, 2023

Dealing with Angry People

There is a lot of anger in the world right now and a lot of that anger is spilling over into the church. This week Dr. Iorg discusses different ways to engage with and disciple angry people in your ministry.


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Spirituality of Jonathan Edwards | JEC at Gateway Seminary

Dr. Chris Chun hosted a digital symposium with Dr. Michael Haykin and Dr. Robert Caldwell to discuss Edwards’ spirituality, devotional life and theological impact in American Christianity.

Chris Chun
Professor of Church History | Director, Jonathan Edwards Center
Dr. Chris Chun is the professor of Church History and the director of Jonathan Edwards Center at Gateway Seminary. Chris’ doctoral research at St. Andrews University was focused on the eighteenth-century Edwardsean Baptists in Britain. He also has served as president of The Evangelical Theological Society (Far West Region).

Faculty Dialogues: Dispensationalism or Not

In this episode of Faculty Dialogues, Dr. David Rathel and Dr. Paul Wegner held a live discussion on their views on dispensationalism.

David Rathel
Associate Professor of Christian Theology
Dr. Rathel is the associate professor of Chrisitian Theology at Gateway Seminary. Prior to Gateway, Dr. Rathel supplied pastoral care to churches in the United States and Scotland, served as an Adjunct Professor of Theology and Philosophy for the Baptist College of Florida, and provided teaching assistance for the University of St Andrews.

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