TARGETing Children

Ryan Cox • August 10, 2023

TARGETing Children

“Recent debate around proposed laws in several states has reignited a national conversation around inclusivity. So earlier this week, we reiterated with our team members where Target stands and how our beliefs are brought to life in how we serve our guests. Inclusivity is a core belief at Target. It’s something we celebrate. We stand for equality and equity, and strive to make our guests and team members feel accepted, respected and welcomed in our stores and workplaces every day… In our stores, we demonstrate our commitment to an inclusive experience in many ways. Most relevant for the conversations currently underway, we welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.”


   ~ Target, “Continuing to Stand for Inclusivity”, April 19, 2016 [1]

With this news came a broad range of reactions, one of which was the refusal of conservative families to shop at Target (1) for fear of sexual predators and (2) to stand for what is morally and Biblically right. Indeed, each of the CTF families ceased shopping at Target after this announcement. Were/are families warranted in their fears of what might happen to their loved ones?


The WOMAN Means Something campaign released a study in January of 2018 to see what happened following Target’s new bathroom policy. They found a significant increase in “voyeurism-related offenses”.[2] The report showed that 94.5% of victims were female, 100% of the perpetrators were males, and children were the victims in 34% of the offenses.[3]]
  [1]


Consequently, Target saw their sales fall from $73.785 million (2015) to $69.495 million (2016); net earnings also fell from $3.321 million (2015) to $2.669 million (2016), a 19.6% drop.[4] It wouldn’t be until 2018 that sales would recover to 2015 levels[5] and not until 2019 that net earnings would recover to 2015 levels.[6] [

With the recovery in sales and profits and the embracing of ESG scores[7] and the cultural revolution, Target felt safe to release their most aggressive moral agenda to date with their 2023 “Pride” collection. What they were not anticipating was America’s reaction when children become a primary “target”. The greatly increased merchandise included items to help young people struggling with gender identity “hide” or alter their appearances. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Target also partnered with U.K.-based brand Abprallen, whose designer Eric Carnell is an outspoken Satanist (though he says he doesn’t believe in the actual real Satan). The brand features occult imagery and messages like “Satan respects pronouns”.[8]


Backlash was so severe, that Target had to act: “Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and well-being while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”[9]

Indeed, when I personally went to the Target in Norman, OK, I could find no such “pride” merchandise.[10] But for Target, their troubles were only beginning. Citi analyst Paul Lejuez reported that Target saw a 13.9% drop in store traffic the final week of May. Additionally, Target saw its stock values fall for multiple weeks, resulting in a loss of $15.7 billion.[11]


Did Target learn its lesson? Not at all. The very next month saw their Australian stores having to remove a children’s book from all locations (but not online) due to its incredibly graphic content.[12] 


Why have children become the focus of today’s attacks? As Target’s partnership so clearly answers, children have always been one of Satan’s targets. From the sacrificing of children to Molech to the sacrificing of children to transgenderism, Satan seeks to destroy families in efforts to eliminate Godly progeny. Today’s tactics are not much different than those in the past – mostly cultural pressures to conform to the current sinful trends. And, tragically, more and more parents are unaware of what is happening.

This is why the Lord our God has COMMANDED Godly parents to teach their children the ways of the Lord, PERSONALLY. Just taking them to Sunday services or sending them to a youth group doesn’t cut it. If a Christian parent is not personally imparting the faith to his or her child(ren), then he or she is in open defiance of the Lord.


5 For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers That they were to teach them to their children, 6 So that the generation to come would know, the children yet to be born, That they would arise and tell them to their children, 7 So that they would put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But comply with His commandments, 8 And not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

 ~ Psalm 78:5-6 ~


This is also why we are promoting our new program entitled Divine Identity, in which we expose what is actually going on in the current cultural revolution, in particularly regarding gender identity. Please contact us if you would like to have this program in your church, and please pray that the Lord will work through it to provide life-changing results for the glory and growth of His Kingdom.



  1. Target, “Continuing to Stand for Inclusivity”, A Bullseye View, 19 April 2019, <https://corporate.target.com/article/2016/04/target-stands-inclusivity>.
  2. As in “upskirt” (2.3x increase) or “peeping Tom” (2.9x increase).
  3. Dirks, Paul. “Gender-Inclusion Policies and Sexual Violence: A Longitudinal Analysis of Media Reports at Target Stores”. WOMAN Means Something. 29 January 2018. <womanmeanssomething.com/targetstudy>.
  4. Target 2016 Annual Report, <https://corporate.target.com/_media/TargetCorp/annualreports/2016/pdfs/Target-2016-Annual-Report.pdf>.
  5. Target 2018 Annual Report, <https://corporate.target.com/annual-reports/2018/financials/financial-highlights>.
  6. Target 2019 Annual Report, <https://corporate.target.com/annual-reports/2019/financials/financial-highlights>.
  7. Target, “Sustainability & ESG”, A Bullseye View, <https://corporate.target.com/sustainability-ESG>.
  8. Parks, Kristine. “Target customers shocked after company features pride items by Satanist partner: Devil is ‘hope’ and ‘love’”. Fox News. 24 May 2023. <https://www.foxnews.com/media/target-customers-shocked-company-features-gay-pride-items-satanist-partner-devil-hope-love>.
  9. Target, “Target Statement on 2023 Pride Collection”, 24 May 2023, <https://corporate.target.com/press/releases/2023/05/Target-Statement-on-2023-Pride-Collection>.
  10. The only thing I could find was one endcap in grocery with “pride”-themed champaign.
  11. Flood, Brian and Suzanne O’Halloran. “Target market cap losses hit $15.7 billion, shares approach 52-week low amid woke backlash”. Fox Business. 12 June 2023. <https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/target-market-cap-losses-hit-15-7-billion-share-near-52-week-low-amid-woke-backlash>.
  12. WARNING: Graphic Content - Rolfe, Brooke. “‘Welcome to Sex’ children’s book causes chaos on retailers’ shelves”. New York Post. 18 July 2023. <https://nypost.com/2023/07/18/anger-intensifies-over-welcome-to-sex-book-in-big-w-and-target/>.
    WARNING: Graphic Content – Caporn, Dylan. “Yumi Stynes defends kids’ book Welcome to Sex after Big W, Target ban while sales skyrocket online”. The West Australian. 20 July 2023. < https://www.perthnow.com.au/entertainment/books/yumi-stynes-defends-kids-book-welcome-to-sex-after-big-w-target-ban-while-sales-skyrocket-online-c-11337849 >.

September/October 2025 Printed Newsletter

October 2, 2025
Ichthyosaur pic

Flooded Marine Reptile

By Matt Miles • October 2, 2025
The Flood during Noah’s day was a devastating judgement against the sin and wickedness of the time. Most people focus on what the Lord did as He saved the eight people and animals on the Ark. Yet while they were being saved, the Flood destroyed the earth and left behind some remarkable things. Geology around the globe shows water burial of plants and animals. Many of the animal remains show signs of drowning and then burial. One particular reptile that shows this is the Ichthyosaurus. From what we can understand, water was her home for everything in life, even giving birth to live young. This well designed creature may even help us trust the Word of God when it comes to the history of the Flood. In our Mobile Museum of Earth History we exhibit a research replica of an ichthyosaur called Stenopterygius quadriscissus . She is from Holzmaden, Germany and is one example of hundreds that have been found in the area. The reason we can so confidently state this fossil is a “her,” when we rarely know for sure about fossil animals, is because she is pregnant. She has three babies present with her remains: one under her tail, one in or near the birth canal, and one still inside. Our fossil is in situ, which means the fossil remains in the rock matrix it was buried in. So, the presence of momma and babies are how they were buried and not articulated in some manner after excavation. This is important to show the rapid, watery burial that must have taken place to lock this scene in the fossil record. The Flood trapped organisms all over the world in different life positions. Sometimes the fossils left behind have shown eating, hunting, sleeping, swimming, nesting, or drowning. When it comes to ichthyosaurs around the planet, there is a significant number of females that seem to be pregnant. They have been found in the fossil record on at least four continents. A fair assumption would be that Ichthyosaurs had a certain time of year they mated and gave birth to young, much like sea turtles today that nest from late spring to late fall depending on the region around the world. So it should come as no surprise that we find pregnant ichthyosaurs all around the world as the Flood lasted an entire year. It would have buried the females that were pregnant near their location of habitat.  Evolutionists maintain that ichthyosaurs lived tens to hundreds of million years ago and each of the mothers found in the fossil record just died while giving birth. This is difficult to support in a millions magnitude time scale. That would mean every time a disaster happened, millions of years apart, the right conditions existed to quickly bury ichthyosaurs that just so happened to be pregnant. It just might take some “faith” to trust that “miracle” would happen over and over again through eons of time. Or you can have faith that the Word of God’s history is correct with a judgement of man’s sin bringing global devastation through the Flood during Noah’s 600th year of life. The Word of God is trustworthy, with even the fossil record showing us glimpses of historical evidence in support of our faith. I’m so thankful we don’t need blind faith to trust our salvation! Blessings.
Furnace

Our God Whom We Serve Is Able

By Ryan Cox • October 2, 2025
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 …if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:14-18 In the 6th century BC, three young men stood up for their faith in the one true God, for which someone attempted to kill them. Today, in the 21st century AD, one young man was gunned down for his faith in the one true God. And sadly, Charlie Kirk is not the only one. According to The Esther Project, martyrdom for the cause of Christ is commonplace around the world ( theestherproject.com/statistics ). On average: 322 Christians are killed monthly. 214 churches or Christian properties are destroyed monthly. 772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, etc.) against Christians are committed monthly. 100,000 to 160,000 Christians are killed annually in the 21st century. 1.093 million Christians were martyred between 2000 and 2010. And more than 70 million Christians are believed to have been martyred since the 1st century, with more than half killed in the 20th century alone under communist and fascist governments. And how should Christians respond? Peter wrote, “ if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name ” (I Peter 4:16). Jesus took this a step further; He told us, “ …love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ” (Matthew 5:44). Now, as Shawn Grant, minister at Kissimmee Christian Church, FL, preached on the Sunday following the assassination, th at may not be what you want to hear right now, but that is what Jesus has told us we must do. Why? So the world will see the difference Jesus makes! The night of and the days after the assassination, businesses did not have to board up their stores. Police and soldiers did not have to be deployed. There were no riots, no property damages, no police spat upon – only tears, prayers, and a witness to the world that Jesus is the answer. So noticeable is this to the world, there were more international press requests for the Charlie Kirk memorial service than are requested for Super Bowls. Within seven days of his death, Kirk’s ministry Turning Point USA had received over 54,000 campus chapter requests. And most importantly, scores of videos of young people considering or even deciding to give their lives to Jesus have been posted to social media platforms. 
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