August 2015 – Page 2

Is your worship exciting? I’m sorry

Posted on August 22, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Before I was saved I’d attended many concerts and comedy shows. Before the main act appeared, there was always an opening act or as it is known, a “warm-up act”. The intent is to whip up the audience into an excitement. Wikipedia explains,

An opening act, warm-up act, or supporting act is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or “headliner”. … The opening act’s performance serves to “warm up” the audience, making it appropriately excited and enthusiastic for the headliner.

When we were at a taping of the Johnny Carson Show (Jay Leno had taken over when we were there) someone came out before the taping began and warmed up the audience. Wikipedia explains the comedy warm-up:

A warm-up comedian or crowd warmer is a stand-up comedian who performs at a comedy club or before the filming of a television comedy in front of studio audience to get the crowd into the mood ready for the show or main act. Their role is to make the audience feel integral to the show and encourage reactions during the show. They usually work alone and perform a comedy routine while also possibly explaining aspects of the show. They will also perform during commercial breaks.

This was the case with us. I don’t remember who the warm-up comedian was, but by the time Jay Leno came out through the curtains with the intro music blaring and asked, “Are you excited?” we could enthusiastically applaud and yell “YES!” The crowd went wild.

There are many praise bands whose intent is to do the same. By the time the main act arrives on stage (pastor climbing the pulpit) he often asks, “Are you ~~warmed up~~ excited?” Or if the congregation looks a little serious he might say “You all look so serious. We’re in church! Smile! Isn’t it exciting!?”

Is church exciting? Is that the only proper emotion one should express in church? Excitement? What is church worship and how should we express it?

John MacArthur’s series “True Worship” has a definition:

Worship Defined

What is worship? Let me give you a definition: Worship is “honor paid to a superior being.” It means “to give homage, honor, reverence, respect, adoration, praise, or glory to a superior being.” In Scripture, the word is used indiscriminately to refer to the homage given to idols, material things, or to the true God. So the word in itself is not a holy word, it only describes honor given to a superior being.

The common New Testament word for worship is proskuneo, which means “to kiss toward, to kiss the hand, to bow down, to prostrate oneself.” The idea of worship is that one prostrates himself before a superior being with a sense of respect, awe, reverence, honor, and homage. In a Christian context, we simply apply this to God and prostrate ourselves before Him in respect and honor, paying Him the glory due His superior character.

Essentially, then, worship is giving – giving honor and respect to God. That is why we, as Christians, gather together on Sunday. We don’t gather to give respect to the preacher or those in the choir, we gather to give honor to God.

When some people attend church and they look serious it’s for a reason. We are there to pay homage to the supreme Being of the Universe, Yahweh. Did the Temple priests go dancing and prancing into the Temple hooting and hollering? Shouting “Come on, ya’all, bring on the sacrifices, it’s a great day to be in the Temple today!!!” Can’t picture it? That’s for a reason.

Here is Worship Matters on How Exciting Should Our Sunday Meetings Be?

Getting the Goal Right

But our lives aren’t an unending string of exclamation points. Our meetings shouldn’t be either. (Neither should our emails, but that’s another topic).

Strictly speaking, God never says the goal of the church gathering is excitement. It’s edification for God’s glory. We meet to stir up one another to love and good works, not simply to have an emotionally electrifying time. We meet to behold God’s glory in Christ through his Word, responding in ways appropriate to his self-revelation (Heb. 10:24; 2 Cor. 3:18).

That doesn’t mean gathering as the church isn’t meant to be a soul stirring event. We have every reason when we’re together to be excited about what God has done for us in Christ. But that’s not the same as aiming for adrenaline-pumping, professionally produced, high energy, exciting gatherings alone. That approach leaves little room to engage in expressions normal for elect exiles on our way to a new home (1 Pet. 1:1-2). Expressions like disorientation (Ps. 42:1-5). Sorrow for sin (Ps. 38:1-8). Grief (Rom. 12:15). A humble awareness of our creatureliness before our Creator (Ps. 95:6-7). Not to mention reverence and awe (Heb. 12:28).

Our greatest need when we gather is not simply to feel excited, but to encounter God: to engage with the certainty of his sovereignty, the reality of his authority, the comfort of his mercy in Christ, and the promise of his grace. We need to be strengthened for the battles against the world, our flesh, and the devil that will confront us the moment we wake up Monday morning, if not before. Mere emotional excitement, however it might be produced, won’t be sufficient.

We need God’s Word clearly expounded, God’s gospel clearly presented, and God’s presence clearly experienced. We need well crafted, intentional liturgies that cultivate God-honoring, Christ-exalting thoughts and desires (See Rhythms of Grace and Christ-Centered Worship for more on that). Our efforts to make our meetings exciting can actually end up obscuring what our congregations need the most.

Some people when they go to church are excited in a way that’s more soberly mindful of the gravitas of the situation than the outward hyperactive excitement some churches seem to want or enjoy. Church is profound. We come before our Holy God to repent of sins, to call others to repent, and to praise and worship our eternal Savior. It is awe-inspiring, and yes, exciting, but not in the foot-stomping, hand waving, fervent excitement that some plea for and yes, even demand. Insistence on demonstrating our “excitement” at being present before God and the Assembly in one particular way is not at all liberating, in fact, it’s inhibiting.

The Bible on worship:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:19–25:)

We should aim for a more profound excitement. Here is Worship Matters again:

Towards a More Profound Excitement

The alternative to making our meetings more “exciting” isn’t trying to bore people. But Sunday mornings aren’t New Year’s Eve celebrations. They aren’t rock concerts. They aren’t pep rallies. They aren’t World Cup finals. They’re something much more mundane, and at the same time something much more eternally and cosmically significant. Our plans, lights, smooth transitions, technology, videos, sound systems, visual effects, and creativity don’t make it so. Christ dwelling in the midst of his people through his Holy Spirit makes it so. That’s why if we understand what’s going on, sharing the bread and cup during communion can be one of the highlights of our week, transcending the greatest of world championship sports rivalries in its effect on us.

What a great word. Transcendent. Our worship emanates from a sinful but justified heart, upward through three heavens to arrive at the throne of God.

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15).

This is the most exciting thing in the universe, our Holy Spirit in us, dwelling in our very body that is a Temple. I am hugely “excited” over this. Church leaders that insist on a enthusiasm exhibited a certain way, OR produce stage-effects designed to manipulate the congregation into exhibiting the desired enthusiastic exhibitions, should take heed of the 2 articles above.

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand. (Psalm 95:6-7)

—————————————

The brightest light in the world

Posted on August 20, 2015 by elizabethprata

Long argued about, long wondered of, discussions ranging from “it was real” to “it’s a myth,” historical records mention it (In the second century AD the writer Lucian said Archimedes destroyed ships with fire. Anthemius of Tralles wrote of it also… Hmmm! Even the MythBusters attempted to replicate its power of reflected sunlight … eventually the class of 2009 at MIT sketched and constructed and tried it.

The Archimedes Sun Death Ray

Was it an ‘urban legend’? Or did Archimedes really build a death ray using the sun? The legend goes that Archimedes constructed a series of mirrors, that when pointed at an oncoming warship in unison under the Mediterranean sun, would ignite the ship into a fire that would subsequently sink it. And it would not take long to do, either. Above is a fresco at the Uffizzi Gallery in Florence depicting Archimedes’ Death Ray at work.

The class of 2009 at MIT wrote up a super witty essay of their experimental efforts, complete with lots of photos, here- The Archimedes Result

The experiment worked! Here is one shot of the fake ship they constructed, burning up!

We know that God created the sun. He did that in Genesis 1:16. But have you ever wondered why God put the sun on His creation schedule on Day 4 and that He said “Let there be Light” first thing on day 1? (Genesis 1:3). He IS the Light! He doesn’t need a secondary entity to illuminate His universe. His Light is first, strongest, brightest, and eventually will be the only Light filling the entire Universe. (Revelation 22:5).

It’s impressive that Archimedes used the sun’s light and power to shine a ray that could ignite a warship in under ten minutes. That is one strong light. But… how bright is God’s light? I am mindful of the verse in Matthew 24:27,

For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

Or Luke 17:24–

For the Son of Man in his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other.

To compare, how bright is lightning? The average lightning strike peaks at 1 terawatt which is equal to one trillion (10¹²) watts. 10 to the 12th power means 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10. That’s bright!

The metaphor for Jesus’ return being as lightning evokes both the suddenness and visibility of it, and also the brightness. IMAGINE! His glory at more than full trillion wattage! No, it’s unimaginable.

If we as Christians reflect (or emit) one tiny fraction of all that glory He has given us no wonder the Apostles turned the world upside down! If mere mirrors reflecting the sun can burn a ship within 10 minutes, imagine the light of a God so big He exceeds the universe’s brightness of all its lightnings and suns! God’s glory-light is so much brighter than the sun, than lighting, than the sun and lightning combined! Our future dwelling place will be where there is no night, where the glory of the light of Jesus Christ illuminates every iota of every atom everywhere. That’s bright. And He is our Savior and friend. What a Savior He is, in Him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)

O Splendor of God’s Glory Bright

1 O splendor of God’s glory bright,
from light eternal bringing light;
O Light of light, the fountain spring,
O Day, all days illumining.

2 Come, very Sun of heaven’s love,
in lasting radiance from above,
and pour the Holy Spirit’s ray
on all we think or do today.

charismatic, discernment, grace community church, intruder, strange fire

John MacArthur confronted by intruder mounting the stage during Sunday Service

Posted on August 19, 2015February 2, 2025 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

On Sunday, August 16, an intruder wearing a backpack mounted the pulpit at John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church while Dr MacArthur was preaching the Sunday morning service, put his fingers in his lips and emitted a piercing whistle, pointed his finger at the pastor and began shouting that he had a message from the Lord to deliver to him.

The man, a Scottish “evangelist,” was angry that Dr MacArthur had preached in the past that the charismatic gifts have ceased, an interpretation termed “cessationism.” This biblical teaching was most recently delivered at the Strange Fire conference at Grace Community Church two years ago. That conference was a much-needed response and rebuke to the Charismatic movement which claims that Jesus delivers personal revelation to individuals today in the form of the temporary sign gifts of prophecy, tongues, interpretation of tongues, and also that people can and do perform miracles like raising people from the dead and healings, as the first century apostles performed.

Charismatics believe these temporary gifts intended as a temporary sign were not temporary at all and have never ceased. They believe the gifts continue. They are continuationists. Continuationism and its heresies and false notions of Christianity are rapidly overtaking the faith all around the world. If you have ever seen a “church service” where people are shouting, jerking, fainting or otherwise gyrating, this is a Charismatic church. If you have ever seen people lined up for healing by “an anointed preacher” at a healing crusade, this is charismania. If you ever have seen claims from ‘pastors’ who shout for the Holy Spirit “to show up” and He supposedly does by showering the congregation with gold dust from the ceiling, you’ve seen a charismatic congregation.

Not all Charismatic churches are so wild, but the ones that seem quieter are just as dangerous. They speak in tongues which are gibberish. They claim that the canon of scripture is not closed and have a word delivered by the Lord to share. Beth Moore makes claims all the time that Jesus speaks to her and commands her to teach what He tells her. Disgraced pastor Mark Driscoll claimed to have had many visions and audible revelations from God. So you see it is not just the Benny Hinns and Kenneth Copelands of the world engaged in dangerous twisting of God’s word in regard to the temporary sign gifts, but even conservative segments of the faith have now accepted personal revelation and mystical practices associated with Charismania.

The Strange Fire conference of 2013 sparked angry outbursts and heated reactions from certain segments, mainly from the people who claim to possess these gifts and are going around performing them. Apparently this intruder was one who feels he is a prophet from God, as he said while on the podium at GCC last Sunday. The reaction to the Strange Fire conference is continuing and satan is still inspiring people to anger over the biblical rebuke the preachers and teachers at that conference delivered. The warfare is real and ongoing. (Ephesians 6:12)

Here is video of the intruder at Grace Community Church. You can see he mounted the pulpit rapidly and got within 20 feet of MacArthur before anyone noticed or stopped him. Even though two men in the front row immediately rose and approached the intruder, I was shocked at how fast it happened. When the intruder points his finger at the esteemed pastor, it could as easily have been a gun. GCC fellow pastor Phil Johnson said the intruder got “way too close” to MacArthur.

Here is a video of Dr MacArthur’s gracious reaction afterward. It is a 3-minute video from SO4J, but it’s “exclusive” to SO4J.com so I can’t embed.

VIDEO OF MACARTHUR’S RESPONSE: JOHN MACARTHUR IS VERBALLY ATTACKED BY A FALSE PROPHET

This brings to mind safety concerns, of course. The congregants at Charleston’s Emmanuel African Methodist Church last June certainly didn’t expect to be shot while praying and singing inside the church, but that shooting shocked America and the world. Nine people were killed.

Even though Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church is not a church and Osteen is not a pastor, many people think it’s a church, and some had no compunction about mounting an orchestrated rebellion while services were going on this past June. These hecklers were outraged at Osteen’s brazen falsity and began calling him a liar as Osteen prepared to ‘preach’. There were six individuals ushered out from the Lakewood arena by security that day.

Unfortunately we are seeing these scenes of bouncers or security men ushering away some intruders more and more often. Here is GCC Pastor Phil Johnson with comments on the incident:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHIL JOHNSON:

Here are some comments about church security and the performance of the GCC security team in particular. These are compiled mainly from my own replies in a couple of recent comment threads. The one comment below that I have put in quotation marks was made by one of my FaceBook friends. All the other comments from which I compiled this are mine:
__________

I agree that it’s both irritating and scary to see someone with mischief on his mind get that close to John MacArthur, but we are not going to erect a barrier between the pastor and the people in our church. I imagine the security team will henceforth put their most young and spry guys on the front row. But it’s a simple fact of life that if someone bent on doing harm is determined enough, it’s not possible to guarantee that every possible threat can be thwarted. On the other hand, all of us who preach Christ at GCC are willing to die for Him–but not willing to permit miscreants to force a barrier between the people and the elders. John MacArthur isn’t going to move around among his own congregation in a plexiglas bubble like the Popemobile.

I know for a fact that the security team is carefully examining Sunday morning’s incident with an eye to improving or beefing up the measures they take. But they DID handle this situation without injury to anyone involved, and the entire interruption lasted less than sixty seconds.

Bear in mind that over the years, the vast majority of criticisms aimed at our security team have come from people who seem to think ANYTHING they do is too hasty, too heavy-handed, or otherwise unChristlike. In fact, Martha Mac’s front-row video of Sunday’s incident (posted on her FB page) drew dozens of comments from charismatic critics and postmodern bleeding hearts who complained that the treatment our Scottish “prophet” friend received was overly harsh. So people should appreciate and have some empathy for the difficult position the security staff are in.

Finally, here’s a comment someone else posted elsewhere regarding security’s handling of this incident:
__________

“As a former LEO and member of my church’s security team, who knows a few of the GCC security team members, well done fellas. I agree with Phil that it was a measured and gentle approach, and they took care of business without incident. Praise the Lord! It will be good for them to do a review this incident to see how a response could be improved or tweaked next time, but there will always be lag time in any response, and there is always the risk that someone can get to your pastor first. Also, there is a delicate balance between what is the desired level of response by security, both from the pastor’s perspective and the congregation’s perspective. Go too hard, and there is criticism; go too soft, and likewise. John and his security team have an understanding on what is expected of them in their response, of this I am sure, and this appears to have played out. If you notice, John points at the disorderly subject, and the men react immediately and start to approach the stage. The subject stops away from John, and is merely pointing and yelling, with no visible weapon, which calls for a less dynamic response from the security team. Professional job, gentlemen. In under a minute, the situation is resolved, and it’s back to business as usual. Thank you for posting this, Phil, as a good reminder to those who protect our faithful pastors each and every week.”
_________

In short, I think people who don’t actually have hands-on responsibility for church security at this level should probably keep their Monday-morning quarterbacking to themselves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are not guaranteed safety in this world. Though we believe church should be a safe place, and we strive to make it so, it is actually ground zero in the warfare in which we engage. Sometimes that warfare shows up in the form of an angry person…sometimes the angry person has a gun. We are not guaranteed safe passage from this world to the next, what we are guaranteed is trouble.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. (Acts 14:22)

Ultimately the take-away is… PRAY FOR PASTORS. The pastors who unflinchingly preach the truth of God are most at risk. Pray for them for God to keep them spiritually safe, and physically safe. And He will. Until it is the day ordained from the foundation of the world for them to be called home.

discernment, Eve, heresy, Jesus bible, the shack, william p. young

Eve, an upcoming book by William P. Young of The Shack; The heresy continues

Posted on August 18, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

William P. Young is an author of religious stories. You might know him as the author of the runaway bestseller a few years ago, The Shack. (2008). He also wrote Cross Roads in 2012. Young said The Shack was fiction, nonetheless he used biblical theology to twist God’s word and manipulated the “fictional narrative” to present a different Jesus, a different Holy Spirit, a different God, a different view of sin and a totally different view of the atonement. Young’s book harmed Christians by insinuating Young’s aberrant theology into their minds, all under the sensitively emotional flow of ‘fiction.’ You can read a substantive Christian review of The Shack here at Tim Challies’ site.

In addition, I did some digging and discovered that Young channeled some of The Shack. Channeling is when an author turns off his mind, gives it over to a supernatural entity, and allows that entity to write the book for him. The writer is then simply a vessel used by an entity on the other side (a demon) speaking what the demon wants said. It is an occult practice that is surprisingly prevalent. One example is Beth Moore channeling “When Godly People do Ungodly Things.” An ironic title when a supposedly godly person channels demons to teach about God.

Stay away from The Shack.

Unfortunately, Young is not finished with writing, and he has another book of religious fiction coming out. It’s called “Eve“. Read some of the promotional material describing the upcoming book Eve below-

Eve is a bold, unprecedented exploration of the Creation narrative, true to the original texts and centuries of scholarship—yet with breathtaking discoveries that challenge traditional misconceptions about who we are and how we’re made. As The Shack awakened readers to a personal, non-religious understanding of God, Eve will free us from faulty interpretations that have corrupted human relationships since the Garden of Eden.

I want you to double down and really think about what is being said here. This is a discernment lesson on how to resist language that is designed to get you to succumb to curiosity and read a heretical book. I am going to re-paste the same blurb from above with some words highlighted and then explain why they are highlighted.

Eve is a bold, unprecedented exploration of the Creation narrative, true to the original texts and centuries of scholarship—yet with breathtaking discoveries that challenge traditional misconceptions about who we are and how we’re made. As The Shack awakened readers to a personal, non-religious understanding of God, Eve will free us from faulty interpretations that have corrupted human relationships since the Garden of Eden.

Any time you read that someone has discovered a new way to interpret the biblical narrative, RUN. Key words are “unprecedented” and “breathtaking discoveries.” How can a text be ‘true to centuries of scholarship’ yet yield discoveries no one else has ever noticed? Has the Holy Spirit hidden these new interpretations until now? From everyone except Young? No. Just think of the pride and hubris here. Everyone, just everyone has gotten it wrong about Eve, and Wm. Paul Young as he likes to sign himself, is the one man to find out the real interpretation.

“Challenge traditional misconceptions.” ‘Tradition’ is a loaded word, used by bible twisters to paint Christianity, or the Bible, as irrelevant. It’s another way to say what Young said in The Shack, subtly undermining Christianity, with using the word ‘old’, such as “the old seminary training wasn’t helping” and “he half expected him to pull out a huge old King James Bible…”. When a word is used like that enough times within the story, slowly the reader comes to accept the undermining. And again, the hubris and pride here is evident. We have all been shackled to misconceptions and “faulty interpretations”, and William P. Young is going to “free” us. With a book. Of fiction.

You can have a pretty good idea what these so-called interpretations are that “have corrupted human relationships since the Garden of Eden.” All this hyperbole makes it sound like it is another Bible, the book Eve is going to be that startling and powerful. But secondly, given the age of feminism, I am surmising that Young is going to throw out there an egalitarian view under cover of supposed scholarship coated in narrative and then when the blow-back comes coyly say, “It’s just fiction…”

Here is more of the blurb seeming to affirm that indeed, feminism is on the table:

Eve opens a refreshing conversation about the equality of men and women within the context of our beginnings, helping us see each other as our Creator does—complete, unique, and not constrained to cultural rules or limitations.

In an interview, Young said of his new book,

Having said that, most of the existing assumptions we have of the Genesis story have been told from an either/or, and dominantly male, viewpoint rather than holistic and human, and I believe that has had a devastating impact on our view of God and our relationships, one with the other. This novel is not intended to add to the existing adversarial divisions but look for something deeper and truer about us as human beings that will bring freedom to us all.

The Genesis story has been told in God’s point of view. If the Word is absent a response or perspective from Eve, that is because God arranged it that way. And yet it isn’t absent. Both their answers to God’s questioning were recorded. Both were – ahem – equally cursed for disobeying. It is not up to Young to re-frame it.

Secondly, there’s that coyness again, dis ingenuousness, or outright lie. The book Eve IS intended to add to the existing adversarial divisions, because in another interview Young said he fully expects his ‘evangelical friends’ to be upset.

Thirdly, there is that hubris and pride again. Young is saying here that his interpretation of the Garden story of sin has found something truer (than the Bible?!) and will “free us all.” Jesus freed us, not Young. His Word frees us, not Young’s new interpretation of it. Wm. Paul Young is going to free us with his new interpretation? RUN.

Young says that for 40 years he has had questions regarding those moments in the Garden. Quite often the false teachers will seek to affirm their piety by placing a lengthy time frame on something. I’ve been studying for 10 years…I prayed for several hours…Beth Moore told a long story about her 21 days of fasting before coming to some sort of epiphany, which she then taught to the audience. Here, Young seeks to buttress his faulty scholarship by placing it within a long time frame because he seeks to give it substance.

I understand his fascination with that moment in the Garden that changed everything. I have read and re-read Genesis 1-3 many times. My favorite places to go in the Bible are the early part of Genesis and all of Revelation, tremendous bookends. There are many questions, some that can be illuminated by the Spirit with proper scholarship and consistent with traditional interpretations for the last 4000 years, and other questions that will not be answered this side of the veil, if ever. God put in His word what He knew would benefit us and what He wanted to put in there. So we wait, and if it still matters to us in heaven, we an ask there. It’s part of submitting to the authority of God and of trusting Him

However, Young’s questions are sad. He said he has for 40 years asked:

–What happened?
–Where did we all go wrong?
–What is it about us as human beings that can produce such great wonder and do such catastrophic damage?

Answers: “What happened” is contained in Genesis 1-3. Period. It is clear and beautiful and enough.
We “all went wrong” when we absorbed Adam’s sin-nature. Biologically, generations subsequent to Adam and Eve changed when disobedience (sin) entered their heart and mind. Witness son of Adam, Cain, who killed his brother, failed to properly worship God, and backtalked Him. At the Fall of Man, God cursed the earth and prophesied about the pain and anguish Adam’s rebellion will bring to all future generations. This is information that is presented clearly in Genesis 3. Anyone having trouble with it means they repudiate the corrupt nature of our biology and the fact that we are all born sinners. (Psalm 51:5, Psalm 14:3, Romans 3:12, Romans 5:12).

The reason some “humans produce great wonder” is that they are energized by the Holy Spirit to do such wonders. And remember, what seems a wonder to us is not a wonder if it is not done in Christ and for Christ. Anything done in the flesh is a filthy rag to God, even what seems a wonder to our innocent or ignorant eyes. (Isaiah 64:6). Others who remain in sin do “catastrophic” damage to each other and to our Holy God, as did Eve and Adam, because satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. That’s what sin does. It is always a catastrophe. These are not difficult concepts.

Questions answered.

Now, I am not totally being flip when I say that. Young is a perfect example of the verse which warns that some are “always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7). For 40 years Young has been seeking answers to questions that are already answered in the Bible. He continues to ask them because he does not like the answers.

Some, like Young, “… devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.” (1 Timothy 1:4).

CONCLUSION

At some point, a Christian must come to a settled conviction about what they believe. It might seem pious to wonder about why it all went wrong for 40 years, but it actually betrays the heart of an unregenerate person. When one engages in endless speculations, one cannot witness to truth. If Young wondered for 40 years about the origin of sin and its effects, then he does not understand our need for a Savior from that sin. A person who doesn’t understand why we need a Savior is not a Christian.

When I say we must come to a “settled conviction,” I’m not talking about uninformed dogmatism. The Spirit’s ministry is to make scripture clear. Ask Him to help you come to an informed, grace-filled conviction. Once you know what you believe and why, you can witness with power.

I am being tough on Young and advising you my dear sisters and brothers strongly about the language that Book Publishers are using to arouse curiosity regarding this book. Young himself said in an interview that he understands that many of his evangelical friends will be alarmed at the concepts in the book. Therefore Young said to “read first and ask questions later.” That is exactly what the serpent got Eve to do! Eat first, ask questions later. Don’t fall for it. Book promoters are good at whipping up curiosity. If you read “Eve“, you will become frustrated and upset at the twisting going on, or you will succumb to the confusion that endless questions bring and begin to say “yes, maybe he has a point…”

You will also be shocked to see some of your favorite, previously solid bible teachers, friends, pastors, celebrities you admire, extol this book. Apostasy is growing. Like a magnet sweeping up iron filings, the attraction to apostasy is proving irresistible to many. Books like these naturally draw out the serpent’s poison that is already in them. However it is still saddening and discomfiting when we hear and see comments from teachers and leaders we once thought of as discerning suddenly swerve and extol the left path, and not the right one.

It is all for the glory of God however. Whom He allows to be drawn to these false notions about Him and engage in unedifying things (Philippians 4:8) it is for the purpose of showing who the genuine Christians are. Bear fruit, stay the course, pray always, and exalt Jesus with your heart, mind, strength, tongue and heart. These things please our Sovereign. And that is what we are put on earth for.

Shorter Catechism-
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]

[a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; I Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev. 4:11
[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev. 21:3-4

encouragement, Michelle Lesley, no greater love

Movie Review: No Greater Love (re-blog from Michelle Lesley)

Posted on August 17, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

I love movies, documentaries, and television shows. However as a Christian, I’m offended at much of the fare offered these days. We are told to redeem the time, and to involve ourselves in edifying things. (Ephesians 5:16, Philippians 4:8-9). So then, it’s a struggle to find entertainment that fulfills the necessities of Christian living and honors God.

Here is Michelle Lesley with a good movie find. She reviewed this movie at her blog and I was so pleased to find another good movie via her review. I watched it last night and I agree with her assessment that it is God-honoring and biblically sound. Here is Michelle Lesley’s review:

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Throwback Thursday ~ “No Greater Love”– Movie Review

I stumbled across this movie at my local library a few days ago, and, boy am I glad I did.

Jeff and Heather were the “lucky ones”. Best friends from childhood, high school sweethearts, and married by 22, they were inseperable soul mates.

After the birth of her first and only child, Heather Baker (Danielle Bisutti) fell into a deep depression. Hopelessly lost, she did the unthinkable– she abandoned her husband and her infant son –and vanished. Jeff Baker (Anthony Tyler Quinn) was forced to raise their son Ethan as a single father.

Ten years after his wife’s disapperance, Jeff is finally ready to move on and is on the verge of marrying his new girlfriend. His world, however, is dramatically rocked when Heather shockingly reappears in the most unusual place.
(From the “No Greater Love” web site.)

If you liked the movie Fireproof, you’ll almost certainly like No Greater Love. The acting is much better, and so is the production quality. Of course, that’s to be expected when a movie is made by a professional studio hiring professional actors rather than by a church using mostly church members as actors. (That’s certainly not a dig at Sherwood Baptist Church. They did a fantastic and admirable job with both Fireproof and Facing the Giants –both of which you should see, if you haven’t already –it’s just that professional studios and production companies have the resources and budget to put together a more polished product.)

The storyline of No Greater Love is unique and endearing, but believable. The only thing I found to be a bit of a stretch was, well, how do I say this without giving too much away? Let’s just put it like this: It can take a long time and a lot of difficult, painful emotional work for the most Godly among Christians to forgive someone who has wounded them unfathomably. Generally speaking, one would expect that, for a similarly wounded unsaved person, forgiveness would probably come much more slowly and with even greater difficulty. But I suppose there are exceptions to the rule.

Theologically, this movie is right on target. Director, Brad Silverman, says in his commentary on the movie that his goal was to be as theologically correct as possible, and I think he nailed it. To be honest, one of the reasons I picked up this movie was to see if there were any false doctrine or theology in it, so I was on the lookout for Biblical error. None to be found as far as I could tell.

Does No Greater Love overtly share the Gospel, spelling it out step by step? No. That’s your job and mine, not the job of a movie. I think, primarily, this is an entertaining movie which reinforces Biblical truth that Christian viewers (should) already know. But it would also be a great movie to share with unsaved friends as a conversation starter for sharing the Gospel in detail.

For more information on No Greater Love, visit the web site and “like” the Facebook page.

No Greater Love is available for purchase at:
Lionsgate Studios
ChristianBook.com
Amazon.com

No Greater Love can be viewed for free here

encouragement, love, widows

Jesus’ incredible care for widows

Posted on August 16, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:26-27)

Widow – Konstantin Makovsky, 1865

The Bible speaks so often of the widow, the landless stranger (or alien) and the orphan. This is because in tie social hierarchy of Israel and environs, these three struggled the most in poverty at the lowest of the lowest of stations. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament outline the expectations for the Israelites to take care of the people who unfortunately fell into one of these three classes.

Bible Study Tools/Bakers Evangelical Dictionary describes the plight of the widow.

Widow

Married woman whose husband has died and who remains unmarried. The Hebrew word translated “widow” is almana, and it occurs fifty-six times in the Old Testament. … The Septaugint virtually always translates almana with the Greek term for widow, chera (cf. Job 24:21 ). The same Greek word occurs twenty-six times in the New Testament.
Words that occur in the general semantic field of the term “widow” in the Bible shed light on both her personal experience and social plight. Weeping (Job 27:15; Psalm 78:64), mourning (2 Sam 14:2), and desolation (Lam 1:1) describe her personal experience after the loss of her spouse. Poverty (Ruth 1:21; 1 Kings 17:7-12; Job 22:9) and indebtedness (2 Kings 4:1) were all too often descriptive of her financial situation, when the main source of her economic support, her husband, had perished.

Indeed, she was frequently placed alongside the orphan and the landless immigrant (Exodus 22:21-22; Deuteronomy 24:17; Deuteronomy 24:19; Deuteronomy 24:20-21) as representative of the poorest of the poor (Job 24:4; 29:12; 31:16; Isa 10:2) in the social structure of ancient Israel, as well as in the ancient Near East. With minimal, if any, inheritance rights, she was often in a “no-man’s land.” She had left her family, and with her husband’s death the bond between her and his family was tenuous.

The New Testament. Widows were prominent in the New Testament. It was no accident that one of the poorest of the poor, Anna, was privileged to greet the infant Messiah (Luke 2:36-38). The adult Jesus followed in the footsteps of his prophetic predecessors with his concern for the plight of the widow. He healed a widow’s son because of compassion for his mother (Luke 7:11-17); he protested the exploitation of widows (Mark 12:40). He reversed the standards by which people were judged with the parable of the widow’s tithe: the widow gave from her poverty while the wealthy merely offered from their abundance (Mark 12:41-42). In another parable, the church was compared with an importunate widow who kept demanding that her case be heard. Similarly, the church must persistently pray for eschatological justice, the redressing of all wrongs against her (Luke 18:1-8).

There is much more at the link. It seems that if the widow had no able bodied or willing sons, it often happened that she could not work the land well enough to retain it, which is why she is often classed with the landless immigrant.

Things are not so different now. From the US Social Security Office of Policy, we learn

Despite increased labor force participation rates among women and reforms under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, widowhood remains an important risk factor for transition into poverty, although somewhat less so than 20 years ago. Women widowed at younger ages are at greatest risk for economic hardship after widowhood, and their situation declines with the duration of widowhood. We also find that women in households that are least prepared financially for widowhood are at greatest risk of a husband’s death, because of the strong relationship between mortality and wealth.

James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). The Widow’s Mite

It’s worse for most women who divorce or are divorced from their husbands. They endure an immediate and often permanent plunge in their socio-economic status.

Divorce makes men – and particularly fathers – significantly richer. When a father separates from the mother of his children, according to new research, his available income increases by around one third. Women, in contrast, suffer severe financial penalties. Regardless of whether she has children, the average woman’s income falls by more than a fifth and remains low for many years. (Source: The Guardian, Men Become Richer after Divorce)

In one of the most tender scenes in the Bible, Jesus cared for His mother while He was suffering on the cross. He knew He was going to die of course. Presumably His foster father Joseph had already passed on. At the opening of the essay I’d shared the verse from John 19:26-27, when Jesus committed His mother to John the disciple and John took her in “that very hour.”

Have you ever wondered why Jesus did not speak to one of His brothers? He had brothers and sisters, that is a biblical fact.

Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6:3)

So why, then, did Jesus arrange for His mother to be housed with John, and not immediate family of James, Joses, Judas, or Simon? Likely it was because his half-brothers did not yet believe in Him. (John 7:5). In His agony, every breath a struggle, He commanded John to take in His mother, whom He addressed with an honorific of “Woman.”

MacArthur’s Commentary on John states,

Even as He was dying, bearing man’s sin and God’s wrath, Jesus selflessly cared for those whom He loved. (cf. 13:1, 34, 15:9, 13) Evidently His earthly father, Joseph, was already dead. The Lord could not commit Mary into the care of His half brothers, the children of Mary and Joseph, since they were not yet believers (7:5). They did not become believers in Jesus until after His resurrection (Acts 1:14, cf.1 Cor. 15:7, thought he James referred to in that verse may be the Apostle James).

Therefore He entrusted her to John, he became as a son to her in His place, and from that hour he took her into his own household. This may seem a very mundane thing to be concerned about in His hour of greatest sacrifice, but the beauty of the Savior’s love and compassion for His widowed mother, in the face of His own excruciating pain, reflects His love for His own.

Widow’s Walk, by Maja Lindberg Source

There are many tender scenes in the Bible where women are honored, cared for, healed, loved, and honored. Hagar, badly mistreated, received a visit from a pre-incarnate Jesus who gently spoke to her in her hour of need. The Woman at the Well, a sinner shunned by her townsmen, was given the privilege of a personal evangelistic moment with Jesus one-on-one. He did not rail at her for her sins, not like He did the Pharisees, but instead simply told her everything she ever did, revealed Himself to her as Messiah, and offered Living Water. After Eve sinned along with Adam, we read in Genesis 3:21 that God personally made skins from animals and clothed her (and Adam). And once again I refer to the quote above from the Bible Dictionary about the Lord’s extolling of widows such as Anna, the persistent widow, and the widow with the mite.

His eye is on the sparrow. (Matthew 10:29). It is on the actual tiny, insignificant sparrow but it is also on the metaphorical sparrow, the small and insignificant widow dwelling in poverty and hanging on to the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder. We have a good and gracious God whose eye sees all, knows all, and cares for those who love Him.

Exalt His mighty name today, His care is unparalleled. If you are grieving a lost, widowed and feeling marginalized, insignificant, sad and hidden, fear not. Our wonderful Lord is watching out for you. If His pain on the cross did not stop Him from arranging care for Mary, His mother, you can be sure He is arranging good and gracious care for you at this moment.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. (Luke 12:6)

I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. (Psalm 37:25)

cotopaxi, ecuador, end time, eruption, prophecy, revelation, volcano

Ecuadoran Volcano Erupts for the First Time Since the ’40s (UPDATED)

Posted on August 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

UPDATE: Ecuador declares state of emergency over Cotopaxi volcano activity

“We declare a state of emergency due to the unusual activity of Mount Cotopaxi,” Correa said during his weekly Saturday address. “God willing, everything will go well and the volcano will not erupt.”

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Ecuadoran Volcano Erupts for the First Time Since the ’40s
By Erik Klemetti

ECUADOR WAS GREETED this morning with a coating of ash from Cotopaxi. This eruption would be its first since explosions rocked the volcano in 1940 and possibly 1942. Today’s eruption was quite small—two explosions that rained ash (see below) on the southern edge of Quito. Climbers on Cotopaxi heard the explosions in the early morning hours, both of which happened after earthquake swarms over the past few days. … Cotopaxi needs to be closely monitored as eruptions in 1877 produced lahars (mudflows) that travelled over 100 km from the volcano. You can watch Cotopaxi on the IG webcam.

UPDATE 12:45 PM EDT: It looks like Cotopaxi is continuing to have explosions—check out the recent Tweet with a shot of the growing plume.

Valley of Volcanoes. Wikipedia

My husband and I spent a month in Ecuador with two of his friends. We had met some Ecuadorans when they came to Maine for an exchange program and we flew there to visit them in return. We rented an apartment in middle Quito and branched out from there with our friends ushering us around their stomping grounds.

The volcano Pichincha was front and center in the middle of the huge capital city of Quito. If I wanted to see the top, I’d have to stand on my tiptoes and lean over the sink and crane my head upward.

I was amazed that 2,671,191 people live within mere miles of an active volcano. As a matter or fact,t he entire Valley of Volcanoes, the spine of Ecuador, is filled with active volcanoes. Some population center or another is always threatened. We bathed in hot springs fed by underground magma chambers at Papallacta. We washed our clothes in hot springs tricking down the volcano sides at Baños. Baños means baths. Volcanoes are a way of life to Ecuadorans.

The fences surround little private hot tubs heated by volcanic thermal springs
at Papallacta. You can see the steam on the right behind the pumpkin
and in the middle next to the hut. EPrata photo

Here is a photo of part of populous Quito:

EPrata photo

Here in northern Ecuador near Cayambe, another volcano dominates the skyline, even through the low hanging clouds.

EPrata photo

Naples Italy is another huge population center living among a growling bear. Wikipedia says,

Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive (Plinian) eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.

I feel for all the people around the globe today who are under threat of active volcanoes. Japan and Indonesia are other places where people have been recently evacuated. As we go about our daily life we trust that certain things will work, like the trains, subway, planes, roads, electricity, etc. When there is an interruption like the ah fall on South Quito, it makes life harder than it is already, especially for so many people in Third World countries.

Worse is that these kind of natural interruptions and natural disasters will only continue to increase. We think that we can manage around some light ash falls, some cracks in the road after a temblor, but eventually we will not be able to manage. The seriousness of natural disasters will exceed man’s ability to not only endure them, but even to comprehend them. (Revelation 16:21, Revelation 9:3-4, Revelation 6:14 etc.)

When the rapture happens and we are gathered to Jesus He will unleash all His stored-up wrath and the earth will literally go crazy with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hailstorms, heat, floods, and more.

Revelation 6:12 says “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;”. The sentence is constructed in a way that seems causal. Earthquake occurs, and within the same sentence with no period, the sun turns sackcloth and the moon turns red. Can an earthquake cause this? Yes, if it sparks a volcano eruption. Read more about this below at the link “Of volcanoes, dry fog and sun as sackcloth“

The time is drawing nearer and nearer when sin will be loosed to do its worst, when disasters will top each other again and again- daily. All those who are not true believers will be left behind to face that. Many who think they are believers will shockingly discover they are not, when the true brethren suddenly are gathered up at the last trump into glory and they are left behind.

Just a friendly reminder, that we are not on earth to play, but to work, pray, witness, and labor for the Master.

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Further reading

Of volcanoes, dry fog and sun as sackcloth

CNN: Cotopaxi sends huge ash plumes into the sky

In-Depth Economic Times: Volcano in Ecuador spews huge column of ash

discernment, ligonier, rc sproul

Ligonier Ministries: The State of Theology "We are in a new dark age"

Posted on August 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Here is a wonderful info-graphic from Ligonier Ministries.

The State of Theology

It is Ligonier’s desire to serve the church in fulfilling the Great Commission. This survey has helped to point out common gaps in theological knowledge and awareness so that Christians might be more effective in the proclamation, teaching, and defense of the essential truths of the Christian faith.

View the infographic, listen to Dr. R.C. Sproul discuss these findings on Renewing Your Mind, or download the official white paper and survey with key findings. You can also download the entire study in a .pdf.

Remember the point of absorbing this information is to educate yourself, but then to go forward and witness properly to others, either Christians or non-Christians. Now you know where the gaps in biblical knowledge are and can be part of helping to fill that in for people.

Thanks goes to Ligonier Ministries for this information and all their enduring hard work.

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Preaching wrath-sin-death-judgment as well as salvation-grace-redemption-hope

Posted on August 15, 2015May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

“Wrath”. EPrata photo

A third of the Bible is prophecy. There are fulfilled prophecies, prophecies that have been fulfilled and will be again (double prophecies, Pentecost, Acts 2:14-21), and prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. (Christ’s second coming)

There are complicated prophecies, (Book of Obadiah, Daniel’s prophecies) and simple prophecies. (Messiah will be born of a virgin, (Isaiah 7:14). Prophecies that involve war upon nations (Ezekiel 35:4) and prophecies that involve just one individual. (Eve will be the mother of all the living, Genesis 3:20; Mary a virgin would give birth, Luke 1:35).

Many Christians are fascinated by prophecy and study them diligently. But there is a prophecy that many people don’t like to study and it is one that affects all people, Christian and non-Christian alike.

Jesus said He is coming again to judge the living and the dead. (Ecclesiastes 3:17; Jeremiah 17:10). Non-believers will be judged based on their works and condemned, and believers will be judged not unto condemnation but still, judged according to our works.

No Christian likes to be thinking about the prophecy of being weighed in the scales and found wanting. No one likes to think they have disappointed Jesus. We all want to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23). Not all of us will. Some will enter heaven by the skin of their teeth. (1 Corinthians 3:15).

Yet Christians are told several times about our coming judgment (not unto condemnation, but according to our works).

Believers are judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Romans 14:10-12). We will all have to give an account of ourselves. Jesus will judge the decisions we made, whether they were founded on the flesh or upon Him.

One subset of judgment will be teachers of His word. Teachers of the Bible will be judged more strictly-

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1).

Grumblers will be judged-

Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! (James 4:11, James 5:9).

“Doom sky”. EPrata photo

All non-believers will be judged. As much as a Christian cringes at the thought of being judged by the Mighty Righteous God, non-believers absolutely hate us even mentioning it to them! The lost person becomes angry at the very thought of them having failed the standard God sets forth. Yet it will happen, at what is called the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15.

This judgment does not determine salvation because the lost person’s eternal state is fixed at death. Everyone at the Great White Throne will be an unbeliever who has rejected Christ while they were living and is therefore already doomed to an eternity in the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12). The judgment they will be experiencing is their life works projected like a mirror against a holy and righteous God and the level of their torment assigned. Yes, there are different degrees of punishment in hell.

Believers should think about this most difficult subject for several reasons. First, because as each person is cast (thrown) into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15) we can easily what John Bradford said. He was a martyr, imprisoned for the faith in 1553. As prisoners were paraded to the execution stake, Bradford would exclaim,

The pious Martyr Bradford, when he saw a poor criminal led to execution, exclaimed, “there, but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.” He knew that the same evil principles were in his own heart which had brought the criminal to that shameful end. (Source A treatise on prayer by Edward Bickersteth (1822).

Over time the phrase has been amended to say “There but for the grace of God, goes I.” Any one of us could be that person facing the wrath of Jesus, condemned and tossed into the torment forever, unless it had been Him sovereignly saving us. We are no longer under wrath, but at one point in our lives, we were. Don’t forget that.

Second, the Christian should ponder these things because we must give the full counsel of God as we witness. (Acts 20:27). We must share the bad news before we can get to the Good News. The bad news that there is no one righteous, no, not one. (Romans 3:10). We all fall short of the glory of God and are destined for the Lake of Fire forever, to be punished for our sins by the Judge. We tend to shorten the witnessing moment because we expect the outrage and anger when sharing that the person we are talking with is a sinner in need of the grace of Jesus. It’s hard to make someone angry. Even pastors shorten the counsel of God, by omitting the sin-death-wrath-punishment part and then quickly get to the part that they think is more palatable, or “attractive.”

“Red heaven” EPrata photo

The full counsel means both sides, His sovereign choice of the people He elects to salvation, and the personal responsibility of each man to repent and believe else be eternally responsible for their sin. Spurgeon said of the full counsel of God–

Running away with half a Truth, they are like men that go through the wilderness wearing only one shoe—they become lame in one foot—and that makes them limp all over. It does not matter which foot it is that is lame—the man is a cripple if either foot is thus afflicted.

Think often of the prophecy of the Second Coming of Jesus. He spoke of it more often than anything else. The Bible refers of it constantly. Within the Second Coming are a host of different prophecies. I agree, they are interesting to study. However, we need to remember that we labor for a holy God and He will return to judge the living and the dead.

Acts 10:42
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

Romans 14:9
For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

2 Timothy 4:1
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction

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