Dear Faith Family,

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created Him; male and female He created them, Genesis 1:27.

What do Tannerite and gender reveal parties have in common?!  Apparently, a couple in New Hampshire rocked the house, literally, at a gender reveal party.  CBS Boston reported that a couple detonated about 80 pounds of Tannerite!  Yikes!  The explosion reportedly rocked houses in neighboring towns and even cracked the foundation on one house.

Disclaimer:  Please don’t try this at home!  I’m not advocating the use of Tannerite for a gender reveal party.

I know, I know.  Some of you are thinking “what in the world?!”  Others of you are thinking “what a wonderful world!”  Here’s why I brought it up.  Gender is a big deal!

What makes gender such a big deal?  To start with, God made male and female.  And second, God made male and female all the way back at the beginning.  You know, Genesis.

But there’s something else here.  God connects that we are made in His image (nothing else in all creation is said to be made in His image) with this male and female thing.  So, there is something about being male and female that reflects the image of our God!  Wow!  The beauty of having male and female is somehow rooted in the image of our God.

So, what’s my point?  My point is that we ought to celebrate male and female.  (Ok.  Don’t use Tannerite!)  This is big.  You, yes you, are hand-crafted, created, by God in His image.  That includes your maleness or your femaleness.  Be thankful.  Here’s a thought:  explore in His Word how being a male or female best reflects His image.

As I searched through the articles regarding the New Hampshire gender reveal party, guess what I didn’t find?  No one, at least not that I read, revealed the gender!  How sad.  The very thing that would give us cause to celebrate was conspicuously left off.

Celebrating the creativity of our God,
Pastor Karl

PS – if you find out the gender of the New Hampshire baby, let me know.