elizabethprata

Why we must oppose false teachers: They shut heaven’s door in people’s faces

Posted on February 19, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

In the sermon The Characteristics of False Spiritual Leaders, Part 1, John MacArthur said,

There have always been and there always will be in this world false spiritual leaders who pretend to represent God, but in fact do not represent God. The Old Testament talks about them, identifies them, and warns people to stay away from them. The New Testament does the same. In fact, Moses was in conflict with them in Egypt. Jeremiah was fighting with them in Judah. Ezekiel faced them and called them foolish prophets that followed their own spirit and have seen nothing. Our Lord warned of them as false Christ’s and false prophets who shall show great signs and wonders. The apostle Paul struggled against them as preachers of another gospel in Galatians Chapter 1, and purveyors of the doctrine of demons he called them in writing to Timothy.

Continue reading “Why we must oppose false teachers: They shut heaven’s door in people’s faces” →

Uncategorized, visual theology

Visual Theology: My Sheep Hear My Voice

Posted on February 18, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

Another powerful expression of verse through art by Chris Powers. I found this so moving.

Artist’s Statement:

I went back a chapter in my John reading to Jesus’ discussion of Himself as the Good Shepherd. He talks quite a bit here about His ‘shepeople’ hearing “His voice,” in fact, to hear His “voice” and discern it to be the voice of the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2:25) is to prove ourselves to have been one of His own. Continue reading “Visual Theology: My Sheep Hear My Voice” →

encouragement, Uncategorized

The great thing about Jesus is…

Posted on February 17, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

There are so many great things about Jesus. They are innumerable. Today let’s look at two passages, one from the Old Testament and one from the New. God isn’t one way in the OT and another in the NT. The two testaments are linked and it is a unified whole. Both Testaments reveal the same God, Son, and Spirit. Continue reading “The great thing about Jesus is…” →

prophecy, Uncategorized

Mail Call #6: What can you tell me about Australian Prophecy Teacher David Asscherick?

Posted on February 16, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

Mail Call was always exciting on the TV show M*A*S*H

Occasionally I receive email or Facebook messages asking questions about various topics and issues within the faith. Here is a question I received recently about a phenomenally popular teacher Down Under, David Asscherick. Continue reading “Mail Call #6: What can you tell me about Australian Prophecy Teacher David Asscherick?” →

encouragement, Uncategorized

Knitted with Christ

Posted on February 15, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

He will never, ever, never, ever NOT love us!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) Continue reading “Knitted with Christ” →

encouragement, Uncategorized

Old Testament Briefs: The Ark was a box

Posted on February 14, 2017February 21, 2017 by elizabethprata

I love the Old Testament and I study it a lot. I’m blessed with a great teaching pastor who loves it too. He frequently exposits chapters from the OT. When he’s in the NT, he always makes connections to the Old. As a matter of fact, our church held a community-wide seminar last Saturday called “Christ in Context”, where our teaching pastor and one of our elders led us in three sessions that connected Christ from the OT to the New: Continue reading “Old Testament Briefs: The Ark was a box” →

discernment, Uncategorized

Book Review: Memoirs of a Medieval Woman (Margery Kempe)

Posted on February 13, 2017February 13, 2017 by elizabethprata

In doing my New Year reading challenge, my first book was one called Memoirs of a Medieval Woman, written by historian Louise Collis.

The medieval woman in question was Margery Kempe. Margery was born around 1373 and died sometime after 1438. She was a wife, daughter of a noted mayor, then a mystic, pilgrim, and finally, through her autobiography which she dictated, a commenter on medieval mores and religion. She had become a Catholic Mystic during the time of the rise of Wycliffe and his followers, the Lollards. She was a contemporary of another noted female mystic, Julian of Norwich.

The Freelance History Writer has a synopsis of the book at
her page here

Hers is an interesting book on socioeconomic, cultural, and religious insights. The Book of Margery Kempe is considered to the first autobiography in the English language. It’s also written in middle English and is nearly incomprehensible.

That’s where Collis comes in. She writes about Margery in her book Memoirs of a Medieval Woman, and uses a healthy sprinkling of Margery’s original words, but fills in the background with historical contexts and explanations. Collis never intrudes on Margery’s voice, but Collis’ writing enhances the contextual picture we get of Margery as she goes about her extraordinary life during a turbulent political and religious time.

Though there are many aspects from which we can jump off in delving into Margery’s life, I was struck by the religious contexts. Margery lived in The Late Middle Ages (c. 1301–1500). Wikipedia synopsizes the period thus,

Around 1300, centuries of prosperity and growth in Europe came to a halt. A series of famines and plagues, including the Great Famine of 1315–1317 and the Black Death, reduced the population to around half of what it was before the calamities. Along with depopulation came social unrest and endemic warfare. France and England experienced serious peasant uprisings, such as the Jacquerie and the Peasants’ Revolt, as well as over a century of intermittent conflict in the Hundred Years’ War. To add to the many problems of the period, the unity of the Catholic Church was shattered by the Western Schism. Collectively these events are sometimes called the Crisis of the Late Middle Ages.

Frustration with the Roman Catholic Church, empty pocketbooks, demands for excessive tithes and indulgences to Rome, the rise of the Lollards (Wycliffe followers), the Church’s reaction by burning them at the stake, the Council of Constance, all formed the dominating religious landscape in which Margery lived.

As for the Council of Constance, this was a pivotal moment in Catholic church history. Jan Hus was a forerunner to Wycliffe and both men are considered the first, early reformers of the Church prior to Martin Luther. Hus had preached against the excesses of Rome and had used Wycliffe’s writings from the pulpit. These incendiary preachings came at a time during Margery’s life when the great Papal schism occurred. There were three popes at one time and the church was under heavy attack, splintered and staggering under its corruption and lack of direction. The Council of Constance was the RCC’s answer to this attack on its power. Remember, the Roman Catholic Church was a governmental authority, not just ecclesiastical. Kings and Popes were in league.

The Council of Constance is the 15th century ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, held from 1414 to 1418. The council ended the Western Schism, by deposing or accepting the resignation of the remaining papal claimants and electing Pope Martin V. The Council also condemned Jan Hus as a heretic and facilitated his execution by the civil authority. source

Against that backdrop, we read in Collis’ book some reasons why Mystics had become so popular,

The king used the church as a way of paying the civil service. As [ecclesiastical] incumbents were often ambassadors, ministers, or secretaries, deputies had to be found to look after the souls theoretically in their care. Perhaps, in some cases, the deputies were good and conscientious servants, but such a system made the church seem even more distant, wrapped away in a huge organization, far from everyday needs.

Under these circumstances, the late medieval mystics on the one hand, and the Lollards on the other, became very popular. They brought God close to the individual. One could communicate with Him directly. He would listen to one’s troubles in a sympathetic manner. Advice could be obtained, the tedious and often incomprehensible rituals of the church could be by-passed. Private devotions became a habit amongst many of the new middle class, to which Margery belonged. Such people were accustomed to rely on their own judgment in the business world.

There had always been a place in the church for the hermit or anchorite. [Anchorites remained in their cells, studying and praying. They spoke only through a window. Hermits came out to preach and were often responsible for the upkeep of a bridge or a piece of road.] Anyone could apply to be enclosed. Their prayers brought them near to God. Sometimes they could foretell the future, or heal diseases. They could guide their disciples toward those visions which were a foretaste of paradise. Their doctrine was personal and emotional. One must adore God with all the strength of one’s being and meditate steadily on the Passion, that example of Christ’s love of man. By means of assiduous prayer, fasting and contemplation, some reached a stage where they heard strange melodies played, as it were, in heaven by the angels. Others felt an extraordinary warmth, as of divine fire, suffuse them. Others wept uncontrollably.

A few, who were capable of further progress, despised these outward symptoms as mere irrelevance. For God had whispered to them in words they tried afterwards to understand and never quite explained. They only knew they had somehow stumbled on a transcendent happiness. [pp. 24-25]

If the descriptions of the Mystics’ experiences of hearing voices & whispers, singing, and feeling a warmth running through their body sound familiar, it is because the modern day mystics such as Sarah Young (author of Jesus Calling) et al have said they experienced those exact things too. Satan does not vary his schemes, though a solid Christian is aware of them. (2 Corinthians 2:11).

The RCC had become so remote and distant, so cold and demanding, so corrupt and perverse, that the people didn’t equate the Church with divine solace or a relationship with Jesus at all. They still desired a personal relationship with God, though, because it is in man to worship…something. (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

In Collis’ explanation of the people’s medieval search for God, we read there were those who were interested in Wycliffe’s approach, and there were those who were Mystics or who followed Mystics. As the Bible says, there are the two paths, one leading to perdition and punishment, and the other to Jesus and eternal peace. We can see how the Lord prepared the ground to receive Wycliffe and Hus’ appeals to read the Bible directly in order to know God. We can also see why Mystics (and anchorites and hermits) had become so popular. They filled the roles of fellowship and wisdom the people needed, as wrong-headed as these all were. The Mystics offered a personal religion so different from the incomprehensible rituals and coldness of the Church. It’s no wonder people were drawn to them.

In Margery’s case, pride and vanity had been her besetting sins prior to her demonically led mystical life. In her book she at times mused that she hoped she would become more famous than Julian of Norwich or as well-regarded as a Mystic who had lived in an earlier time, Bridgit of Sweden. She was obsessed with accumulating relics. Relics were the religious items sold at holy sites which purported to be, for example, a splinter from the true cross, John the Baptist’s true finger, a brick from the true home in which Mary lied, Jesus’ actual blood, and so on.

Margery exuded enough holiness to the authorities to have received their blessing and support. She was tried several times for heresy but always found innocent. However, the lay-people were split. Some said she was demon-possessed, others admired her seeming sincerity. And she was sincere, but sincerely misguided. Her fits of crying and constant blunt exhortations to all hearers to straighten up their lives and live right, grated. She was evicted from her traveling group on pilgrimage many times yet these evictions never altered her unteachable spirit to become more introspective.

The Lollards on the other hand were well-regarded by the people. They preached the word, lived simply and honestly, and went about on the true pilgrimage with all love and appeals to win people to Christ. Margery Kempe was definitely a force to be reckoned with. She was loud, noisy, rebellious to the true Christ, intrepid, fearless, and most likely totally shocked when she died at a healthy old age (unusual for medieval times) and faced the true Christ.

Aside from learning of the ripe ground onto which Wycliffe and Hus’ blood spilled in their effort to bring God’s word to the people, I learned just how persevering the devil is in getting someone to believe they are truly saved and then gets them to move mountains. Margery was an anti-Lydia, and anti-Dorcas. She accomplished much for satan’s kingdom, turning the lives of all she encountered upside down. If we who have the Spirit in us were half as single-minded and dedicated to the true cause as Margery was to her false cause, we would all turn our worlds upside down.

Memoirs of a Medieval Woman: recommended

prophecy, Uncategorized

What you seek after, you will be conformed to…

Posted on February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by elizabethprata

Chris Powers of FullofEyes.com creates a picture verse every day. His work in animation, illustration, tracts, and other manner of visual theology (as well as writing study guides to accompany the graphical work) is astounding and encouraging. Here is yesterday’s entry. Please share, his work is free and meant to be shared. If you feel led, contribute on Patreon.

Sharing Destinies

By Chris Powers-

Here’s the picture for today. I’m reading through Revelation as part of my morning times and was struck today by the truth that we will share the destiny of our God (big or little “g”). Humans seemed to be created such that, whatever they worship, they image (theologian GK Beale presents this idea most clearly)….

So, our sanctification (becoming like Christ) is fueled by our beholding and enjoying the glory of God in Christ (2 Cor.3:18), while our “diabolification” is fueled by our beholding and enjoying the God-opposing things of the world (Romans 6:19a, 2 Peter 2:19-20, etc.).

In like manner, we will share the eternal destiny of our God….either the joy of fellowship within the Trinity that has eternal been the gladness of God Himself (John 17) OR the horrors of being eternally an enemy of God, eternally the object of His love’s war against all that opposes the Beloved, aka, of His wrath.

An awesome, hopeful and sobering truth.

So, below are the relevant verses and short explanation.

___________________________

Revelation 20 “(10)…the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire…(15) And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Revelation 3:21, “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”

To our joy or horror, we share the destiny of the one we worship.

discernment, Uncategorized

The problem with evil is its beauty. Part 2

Posted on February 11, 2017March 9, 2017 by elizabethprata

In part 1, I began with a reminder that evil exists. This reminder is necessary nowadays due to the increasing penchant of people to deny the fundamentals of the faith.

I also established that though we are all evil pre-salvation, there are degrees of evil within people that are more deadly than others. Not everyone is as bad as they could be, but some people are. These essays are about how not to be deluded if you unfortunately encounter one of these more evil people.

I ended the previous essay by showing that two of the most beautiful living organisms in the world are also beautiful, the very deadly water hemlock plant, and the deadly but beautiful cone snail. Oftentimes it is the most beautiful that is the most deadly.

In this essay, we will discuss specifically how evil comes in a beautiful package, and then end with a final warning not to be deceived.

The world wants you to think that evil is only the malevolently grinning jack-o-lantern on the left. However, it is actually the handsome and charismatic serial killer on the right. (Ted Bundy)

In this post-modern society with saturating images coming at us 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, we’re told by image-makers that evil looks like a Joker with smeared makeup, like a Jason with a hockey mask, or bloody axes with screaming teenagers in the background. Satan is the universe’s most subtle creature and he knows that’s just too easy.

Evil is actually not a cartoon character on the left but the gentle, wannabe artist Adolph Hitler on the right.

Left, cartoon character evil Joker. Right, all too real Adolph Hitler as a boy

In fact, evil is the soft-spoken, meek priest who molests your children. Evil is the diligent and organized masterful orator named Adolph Hitler who secretly hates Jews and will burn them in ovens. Evil is not the cartoon character Cruella De Ville, but the Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was beautiful, of the nobility, but history’s worst female murderer.

Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (August 1560 – 21 August 1614) was a Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer from the Báthory family of nobility in the Kingdom of Hungary. She has been labelled by Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer, though the precise number of her victims is debated. Báthory and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of young women between 1585 and 1609. The highest number of victims cited during Báthory’s trial was 650. Wikipedia

Genesis 6:5 says that The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

So by this we know that all non-saved people are evil. However, does it surprise you when I say that some people are working in league with satan more closely than others? That all have sinned, but there are degrees of sin? And if there are degrees of sin, there are degrees of sinner? As is stated in this Ligonier essay,

It’s clear that we have different degrees of sin when we consider the warnings of Scripture. There are at least twenty-two references in the New Testament to degrees of rewards that are given to the saints in heaven. There are different levels, different rewards, and different roles in heaven. The Bible warns us against adding to the severity of our judgment. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, “He who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (John 19:11). Jesus measures and evaluates guilt, and with the greater guilt and greater responsibility comes the greater judgment. It’s a motif that permeates the New Testament. RC Sproul, Are There Degrees of Sin?

These are the personality-disordered narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths of the society. In no case that I know of do these evil people approach us with ragged clothes smelling of sulfur and gripping a bloody axe. In no case that I know of does an evil woman wearing a Dalmatian coat and smoking an elongated cigarette cruelly cackle to your face, thus alerting you to her evil. These more evil people will always appear as kind, beautiful, and helpful. They will appear never to hurt a fly and will tell you with all apparent sincerity that they want the best for you.

These more evil people are people with no conscience. These are the people who actually revel in the chaos they create, and they do it on purpose. These are the people who never murder, never cheat on their wives or husbands, never seem to do a harmful thing. Yet these are the people who make absolutely no attempt to apologize, reach agreement, be conciliatory, strive for peaceable harmony, or anything close to the normal relationship currency we’re used to. They lie, manipulate, gaslight, control, and they do it all with a smile.

They will seem to be kind, but they will not be. If unfortunately encountering one of these people, we will ask ourselves,

‘Did my friend just lie to me, again? Can’t be, probably a mistake.’
‘Their actions show that they hate children, but that can’t be, I must be mistaken.’
‘They don’t seem to even care that they are causing chaos and upset in our marriage. Can’t be, I am likely be wrong on this.’

It’s not a communication error, it’s not your fault, it’s not just a mistake that can be cleared up. It’s that the person is evil. Though we strive to give people the benefit of the doubt, and we should, some people are just plain evil. Fact. They won’t murder you, but they like to hurt you in just as evil ways, in the sweetest manner possible. Not just once, but every day, as a life goal.

Though I don’t normally seek wisdom regarding the human condition from Psychology, in the case of extremely evil people, the following 16 key behavioral characteristics that define psychopathy may prove helpful. We infrequently encounter evil in daily life in the fuller force I’m speaking of here, and our minds always will want to reject that that is what’s happening.

From Psychology Today, we read that Hervey Cleckley’s clinical profiles of How to Spot a Psychopath include:

Superficial charm and good intelligence
Absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking
Absence of nervousness or neurotic manifestations
Unreliability
Untruthfulness and insincerity
Lack of remorse and shame
Inadequately motivated antisocial behavior
Poor judgment and failure to learn by experience
Pathologic egocentricity and incapacity for love
General poverty in major affective reactions
Specific loss of insight
Unresponsiveness in general interpersonal relations
Fantastic and uninviting behavior with alcohol and sometimes without
Suicide threats rarely carried out
Sex life impersonal, trivial, and poorly integrated
Failure to follow any life plan

In my life I’ve encountered incompetent boobs, maniacal windbags, effective liars, grande cheats, and unrepentant adulterers. I myself was an unrepentant sinner for 42 years prior to salvation. Those sins can be dealt with in a different way than the purer evil of the psychopath, sociopath, and disordered narcissist can. In addition to being a sinner and encountering sinners every day, I have also unfortunately encountered a couple of psychopaths. These evil people are rarer but they do exist. I read a good book a many years ago called The Sociopath Next Door. In that book, author Dr. Martha Stout offers helpful advice. Even though I am not an expert on these more evil people, I optimistically tend to disagree with her statistic that 1-in-24 people are sociopaths. At least, I hope not! Dr. Stout writes,

How do we recognize the remorseless? One of their chief characteristics is a kind of glow or charisma that makes sociopaths more charming or interesting than the other people around them. They’re more spontaneous, more intense, more complex, or even sexier than everyone else, making them tricky to identify and leaving us easily seduced.

Their masquerade is helped by their personal charm, beauty, winsomeness, and intelligence. Years ago, when I came across one, it took me a long time to settle on the fact that their evil was in fact evil. By then a lot of damage was done.

But enough of personal comment and psychological theories. What does the Bible have to say about evil? It does come in a beautiful package. Don’t be lulled by Hollywood’s depiction of it and don’t be fooled if you unfortunately meet up with this kind of beautiful and deadly evil

The most evil person in the universe is also the most beautiful. It is said in of Lucifer through the lament in Ezekiel 28:12 that:

You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.

Satan masquerades as an angel of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Light is beautiful, light is good. But the key word is masquerade. You must be able to see what is under the light and not be fooled by appearances.

So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:15.)

Here, the servants of which the Bible speaks are not only satan’s unholy angels who followed him into rebellion but also people falsely claiming to be followers of Jesus, but who aren’t. They disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, too.

The 2 Corinthians 11:15 verse

Suggests these servants, who may be the false apostles, actually serve Satan and stand as a threat to the Church (compare 2 Corinthians 11:13). Source, Faithlife Study Bible

These evil ones are disguised. The key words in the two verses for the purpose of this essay are that satan masquerades, and his henchmen (and women) disguise themselves. What they disguise themselves with are beauty, kindness, intelligence, righteousness, and light. Too often, people are reluctant to peer under the mask. Even more frequently when they do peer, they deny what they plainly see. That’s in defiance of what the Bible says to do. “For we are not unaware of satan’s schemes so that he would get an advantage over us.” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Don’t be unaware, lest satan outwit you and gain an advantage.

We are reminded again that Jesus warned in Matthew 7:15 that these especially evil ones will come in sheep’s clothing. They won’t appear to you in rags, or bloody tatters like the movies show, but in fluffy, pretty, white sheep’s clothing. Why are they especially evil? Because they do this under cover of Jesus’ name. Unsaved people are just sinners, evil in what they do but they cannot help it. (1 Cor 5:12). These especially evil ones I’m talking of come in the name of Jesus and use His name to perform their deeds. And they do it beautifully. Because they’re sociopaths. Charming, beautiful, and kind.

Satan made his evil look good and delightful, didn’t he?

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…(Genesis 3:6a).

When I was in Europe, I never saw an ugly Catholic cathedral.

Milan Duomo. EPrata photo

Pisa, ‘Piazza Del Miracoli’ plaza of miracles, so named
because of the architectural beauty of the structures
built by genius and capabilities of man. EPrata photo

I am sure that the Asherah poles were beautiful too. They were hewn and carved idols, mentioned often in the Old Testament.

Sociopaths are remorseless and cannot love anyone except themselves. They have no conscience. They do not operate in the interpersonal the same way we do, in good faith, love, kindness, and repentance. Even sinners try to be good in their own way and attempt acts of kindness from a motivation to have a successful interpersonal relationship.

We seek peace, the especially evil one seeks chaos. We love harmony, they love destruction. They are accomplished at reaching their goals and they do it with a smile and a kind word. They kill joy, they annihilate faithfulness, they reject goodness. They do it all in beauty, and often, under the name of Jesus.

But God is beautiful too. So are his people. It takes diligence and discernment to detect the difference between the beautiful sociopath’s evil and the beautiful sister who’s simply stumbling. Between the psychopath’s gorgeousness and the sinner who just does what he does because he doesn’t know better.

Ultimately, God is Good and He will remove forever from His presence all evil and the people who bring evil. Pity the evil person and pray for their deliverance but do not tolerate their evil. Resist it. Rejoice that their evil deeds will be recompensed. Evil has a purpose, if merely to sharpen the Christian or greatly glorify God – and everything in between.

John Frame said in his book Apologetics to the Glory of God,

We cannot always understand why God has chosen evil events to accomplish these good purposes. We do know that God never foreordains an evil event without a good purpose (Rom. 8:28). There may be other reasons than the ones we have mentioned, either to be found in Scripture or to remain locked up in God’s own mind. We know that God has a reason for everything he does. Everything he does reflects his wisdom. But he is under no obligation to give us his reasons.

Nevertheless, as we see evil used for good again and again in Scripture, can we not accept in faith that those evils which are yet unexplained also have a purpose in the depths of God’s mind? Again, we do not have a complete theoretical answer to the problem of evil. What we do have is a strong encouragement to trust God even amid unexplained suffering. Indeed, the encouragement is so strong that one would be foolish not to accept it.

Thus, the beautiful but deadly flower water hemlock, the gorgeous and intricately barbed cone shell, the charismatic serial killer, the remorseless but kindly-acting sociopath in your circle, all have their purpose. Do not deny that evil exists, do not forget that it comes in a beautiful package, do not avoid acknowledging it if it appears, but always remember, that all things work to your good and the glory of God. The psychopath with no conscience will be seared in hell forever, and we will be dining with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in joy and peace. Let his remorselessness be eternal. Let our gratitude be forever.

————————————————

The problem with evil is, its beauty. Part 1

Posted on February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 by elizabethprata

One of the problems with evil is that too often we have a disconnect between what we understand about evil in theory and what we see in real life. This two-part essay is about how to spot evil in real life, and includes warnings not to be lulled by the beauty of the vehicle bringing it.

First, let us be clear about the underlying premise. Evil exists. The Bible declares that evil exists. We must say that out loud because we live in the post-modern age. The faith is riddled with a skewed perspective that God is love, but that He is only love (and not holiness, wrath, or justice.) To listen to some, one would think that the faith is populated by people hand-holding along candyland stepping stones amid rainbows and unicorns. But the faith is a bloody, constant battle to vanquish evil, including the evil in ourselves. Evil’s lifelong effort is to besmirch, blot, and destroy the goodness of God. It’s to supplant God. Ours is a lifelong effort to overcome evil, to work to expand God’s kingdom, and to give glory to the Goodness of His Name.

We also remind ourselves that evil exists in order to rebut the skewed definition of the word tolerance in today’s faith. Sin is evil. Yet we’re told that tolerance means to accept one’s sin without remark. Like this on a Facebook Community Board:

In the old days that statement would mean that a person is looking for a church filled with saints who strive to be holy (nice), who do not judge one’s past as a sinner because they recognize they are sinners too (non-judgmental) and is populated with an inter-generational demographic because the Bible gives commands that apply to every age group, and the Spirit installs people in local churches from all ages in order to edify each other (young couples).

Nowadays that statement has come to mean the person would be looking for like-minded liberal people (nice) who won’t enact church discipline, preach against sin, or warn me about my attitude (non-judgmental), with young couples (because I select my church based on a ‘shopper’ mentality’ and not by leading of the Holy Spirit, or doctrine, or truth).

To rebut the modern culture, we must constantly remind ourselves of the basics. Today the basic reminder is … evil exists. Here are just a few verses from God’s word regarding evil.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. (Matthew 6:13)

We are told that fearing the Lord begins with hating the evil that he hates.

To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13)

We are told to turn away from evil.

Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:14)

We are told how to struggle against it.

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
(Ephesians 6:12).

We read in Romans 12:21,

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Evil exists. It’s not the occasional Hitler or Stalin. Evil haunts the Christian every day. The Bible gives clear instructions about how to deal with it.

We know all this. We read the Bible and any sensible Christian understands what evil is, the hazards that it poses and the need to resist, struggle, and overcome it. However that is not the problem. The problem is applying the Bible’s verses to life. This is especially hard to do it seems, when it comes to acknowledging that evil is in one’s midst. In our minds, evil is historical (Hitler). Evil is ‘out there’ (Chicago. Cambodia. The city. The country. Elsewhere…). But evil can be and is in your church. Your family. Your circle of friends. Your co-workers. It’s here and it’s everywhere.

Evil is beautiful.

Water hemlock is the deadliest plant in North America. Yet, so beautiful! Do not be deceived!

So pretty! So deadly! Source Alderleaf Wilderness College

Water hemlock is the most violently toxic plant that grows in North America. Only a small amount of the toxic substance in the plant is needed to produce poisoning in livestock or in humans. Livestock usually show signs of poisoning 15 minutes to 6 hours after they eat the plant; they may die within 15 minutes to 2 hours after signs appear. Cicutoxin is a severe convulsant and most animals die as a result of the asphyxia and cardiovascular collapse that occurs during the convulsions. Source: USDA

The cone snail is so pretty! But so deadly!

The bright colors and patterns of cone snails are attractive to the eye, and therefore people sometimes pick up the live animals and hold them in their hand for a while. This is risky, because the snail often fires its harpoon in these situations. In the case of the larger species of cone snail, the harpoon is sometimes capable of penetrating the skin, even through gloves or wetsuits. The sting of many of the smallest cone species may be no worse than that of a bee or hornet sting, but in the case of a few of the larger tropical fish-eating species, especially Conus geographus, Conus tulipa and Conus striatus, a sting can sometimes have fatal consequences. Source Wikipedia

Because we all sin, we’re all evil. (Genesis 6:5). As RC Sproul said,

When I sin, I choose my will over the will of God Almighty. By implication I’m essentially saying that I’m more intelligent, wise, righteous, and powerful than God Himself.” ~RC Sproul

That’s evil. But today I note that there is a special kind of evil that revels in the chaos it foments. It’s purposeful, gleeful, and in a league with satan that goes deeper than the stumbling Christian or the unknowing pagan. Often it’s in the midst of the most benign of situations, the most gentle of churches, the kindest-seeming of people.

When we encounter this deeper kind of evil, our minds want to suppress the truth of it. So, what does that kind of evil look like? More in part 2.

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