elizabethprata

Missionary stories: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Posted on October 10, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I was surfing around social media and came across a ‘Suggested post’ on Facebook that extolled the virtues of the book “Christy” by Catherine Marshall. I remember reading that book as an older teen, and then again as an adult post-salvation.

As a teen, I hadn’t realized it was a missionary book, written in 1967 by the missionary’s daughter Marshall about her mother’s time in the mountains teaching the impoverished children of Appalachia. Her mother was Leonora Whitaker. Though many of the scenes were taken from her mother’s life and times in the mountains in 1912, several weren’t related to her life but were accurate to the times in general. That is why the book is listed as a novel and not a biography.

It takes some doing for an author to write a book of faith and the unsaved person not to notice or be bothered in spirit by the theology inside the book.

Christy has a number of false theologies it introduces. There’s mysticism, Quakerism, direct revelation, biblical errancy, social justice, moralism, and more. I reviewed it at my link below.

Book Review: America’s beloved novel, “Christy”

The issue got me thinking about missionary biographies. There are wonderful missionaries of the true God, and there are wayward missionaries who spread false doctrine to the unfortunate recipients. Here are some missionary biographies I can recommend. Reading about them is inspirational.

One thing the missionary bios show is God’s forward providences in a future missionary’s life, that the future missionary cannot envision at the time they are living it, but hindsight when we read about them afterwards, shows His care and precision in raising up those whom He has marked for this ministry.

Here are some missionary biographies or autobios I recommend-

Gladys was a Cockney maid in a British Lord’s house. She used to rue the day that she was created so short with such black hair. But she found after salvation and when she arrived in China, that her size and coloring allowed her to blend right in with the Chinese around her! She was less intimidating and the Chinese people warmed up to her faster.

Gladys Aylward The Little Woman. Blurb- “With no mission board to support or guide her, and less than ten dollars in her pocket, Gladys Aylward left her home in England to answer God’s call to take the message of the gospel to China. With the Sino-Japanese War waging around her, she struggled to bring the basics of life and the fullness of God to orphaned children.”

The scene where John leaves his beloved dad, likely never to see him again (he was going halfway around the world from Scotland to Vanuatu) made me cry.

Thirty Years with South Sea Cannibals: Autobiography of John G. Paton. “John G. Paton’s accounts of evangelism among the South Sea Cannibals are extraordinary, but what sets this book apart is that it contains one of the finest testimonies of multi-generational love and devotion between a father and son found outside the Scriptures. In this autobiographical account, Paton describes how his father’s love and training prepared him to endure bitter hardship, to persevere against unspeakably difficult circumstances, and to resist sin. Because of his father’s faithful example, Paton was able to love and lead to Christ the very people who tried to eat his wife and child.“

BTW this one is John MacArthur’s favorite missionary book and one of his top books of any kind. I’m reading it now and it is just so well written!

William Carey by S. Pearce Carey. “A beautifully written biography of the ‘father of modern missions’. S. Pearce Carey’s compelling pages convey the very atmosphere of that extraordinary period of missionary advance. This life of Carey is structured around a series of remarkable events, always unplanned and unexpected, which opened the way to undreamed of achievements. Carey and his colleagues overcame mountainous obstacles to become the most productive church planters and Bible translators of all time. No other work compares with this moving treatment.“

I haven’t read the book but I did see the movie. What a commitment those 5 men made! If you never knew about the strange occurrence at the end. The Waodani who speared Elliot and the other men claimed to have heard strange music, and light-figures floating above the trees. Mincayani, the man who speared Elliot, told Elliot’ son that he saw his father ‘jump the great boa’, others interpret the scene to say it was angels bringing the missionaries home. Scene here. Story here.

Shadow of the Almighty: The Life and Testament of Jim Elliot by Elisabeth Elliot. “It is the life and testament of Jim Elliot, as told by Elliot’s widow, author and evangelist Elisabeth Elliot Gren. Shadow of the Almighty is the true account of Elliot’s martyrdom, along with four fellow missionaries, at the hands of Ecuador’s Huaorani Indians. About this important and enlightening book, Eugenia Price writes, “It proves that Jesus Christ will bring bright creativity out of any shadow which might fall across any life and any love.” A story that has inspired Christian readers for more than half a century, it poignantly recounts a tragic event that was presented from Huaorani perspective in the 2006 feature motion picture, End of the Spear.“

We serve a great God. He raises up men to be husbands and lead families in obscure corners of the world, some He raises up to be preachers to teach His word to the people, others He raises up to be evangelists who travel to far flung places and bring the word then return. And still others are missionaries who go to a people or tribe and live among them as a witness to preach and teach.

We do not know the stories of most of the people Jesus raises up. We simply live our lives under His wing and then pass away to heaven. We can learn their stories of service in heaven. But of the ones we do know about because their deeds have been recorded in books, let’s honor them and the great God who raised them and see their witness on this side of the veil even long after they have passed on.

theology

Small groups and propaganda

Posted on October 9, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Josh Daws, @JoshDaws, wrote on Twitter/X on 7:30 AM · Oct 2, 2024 the following-

🤯 Jacques Ellul on the role of the small group in spreading propaganda. The church has yet to fully reckon with how small groups, without strong pastoral oversight, can and have become vehicles for spreading woke ideology within congregations.

The dynamics of small groups often favor conformity over true discipleship. The most assertive individual usually sets the tone, and the group’s consensus follows. This makes it easy for ideology, rather than genuine biblical teaching, to take root.

I thought this made sense. I’ve written before about the danger of para-church ministries that are loosely or not-at-all attached to a local church. I’ve also warned about Sunday School classes led by laymen, and Women’s ministries where false doctrine can be and often is introduced in any of these extensions of the main service of a solid church.

Small groups are another area of concern. In one church I know of, they have family groups at homes of different people after the service to discuss the points in the service. But the elders insist an elder or a deacon to lead each of these where they occur. So, there is either pastoral oversight or delegated elder oversight at each group.

In my church, Bible study on alternating Wednesday nights for both men and the woman are led by the teaching elder.

Women have written to me in concern that in their small group, when false doctrine is spoken or taught it is so hard to rebut it. The close-intimacy dynamics of the group often makes it intimidating to say anything ‘negative’ or to counter a statement with a contradiction even if the lady has scripture at the tip of her tongue. Too many women just respond “Well, that’s MY truth”, and the woman who lovingly raised the concern is at a loss as to how to continue rebutting.

Photo by Small Group Network on Unsplash

Father Timothy Rossow, a Lutheran priest, wrote about conventicles/small groups here. I’ve excerpted the part about small groups. He defined conventicles: “Conventicles are groups of instruction and prayer that are held apart from the supervision of the office of the ministry.”

Concern 2: Conventicles lead to division.
Your small group may have sound doctrine and may not be divisive but many have seen and testify to how they often become divisive and do tolerate false doctrine. The temptation is great to use the small group to complain about the church or about the pastor or to gossip about others. The church is a body with Christ as the head and the pastor as the under shepherd of Christ. It is also hard for church members to recognize false doctrine and then even when it is spotted it is hard for one member to criticize another member’s doctrine. What usually happens is that false doctrines are just left unchecked in small groups, if recognized at all. I do not always know exactly what is wrong with me when I am sick but I do not go to a neighborhood small group discussion on medicine to find out. My doctor is trained in medicine and so I go to her to find out what is wrong with me. My pastor is trained in doctrine and so I go to him for knowledge about religious truth.

Famous dissenter, feminist, and divisive personality Puritan Anne Hutchinson led a conventicle in her home. That was the ground zero location from where the tension in the Puritan colony built. The resulting religious tension erupted into what is known to historians as the Antinomian Controversy. The roiling controversy disrupted the entire colony, and Hutchinson was eventually exiled to Rhode Island.

Fr. Rossow answers the following question:

Can There Be Small Groups for Things Other than Bible Study?
“Yes there should be. That helps to bring the church together so that we can know when one is rejoicing and when one is hurting (I Corinthians 12). Small groups can and should be arranged for fun and fellowship (cards groups, dinner parties, etc.)“

Fellowship is important, and should be encouraged and celebrated among the congregation’s members. But for doctrine, the pastor or elders are responsible for that. We remember Paul’s admonition in Acts 20:28-30,

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.

How to raise a concern if a false doctrine was brought to your small group:

1. Be decisive and act fast. False doctrine spreads like gangrene. Pray. Raise a concern, gently but don’t be combative or dogmatic. G tot he leader after for further discussion.

2. When you go to the leader parse out if they just misguidedly or badly explained a biblical doctrine. Was it just a garbled delivery, a sincere mistake, or something deeper? Or does she beleive what she had taught? Don’t immediately assume your small group leader is nefarious.

3. When you meet privately bring scripture that pertains to your concern. If during the conversation it turns out the leader admits the mistake or you learn it’s a simple fix, great. if not, then you have scripture ready to gently contradict the error espoused in the small group. if it’s a male leader, bring your husband or ask your husband to meet.

4. Pray again. If the issue continues, do not attend the group any longer. If the pastor asks, tell him why. If he doesn’t ask, share why anyway. Kindly. Often times pastors are busy and leave the responsibility of leading a small group delegated to someone else to take the load off.

We must always be on guard, vigilant, and mildly suspicious of groups that meet outside the purview of the elder. This is becuase church is the biggest battlefield on earth. Many verses and passages deal with ng to be wary, and many passages list what to do if false doctrine enters the church. This is because satan hates holiness, he hates Jesus, and he wants to impact your walk as much as possible.

Paul said to test everything (1 Thessalonians 5:21), to check against the written word (Acts 17:11), and Peter said to be vigilant (1 Peter 5:8). It’s sad that we have to be, but we often forget that we are in a battle and the battle is on earth against ideas (2 Corinthians 10:5). Those ideas come in the form of false doctrine, among other ways.

We can relax our vigilance into an eternal peace when we get to heaven. Until then, oppose those philosophies that oppose Jesus.

theology

Christianity is an upside down, unexpected religion

Posted on October 8, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Allen S. Nelson IV @cuatronelson said on Twitter/X,

It doesn’t matter what you accomplish in this life, how big an empire you build, how many great things people say about you — if God doesn’t know you, it’s a life wasted.

Conversely, it doesn’t matter how little you have, how unpopular you may be, how insignificantly the world thinks of you — if God knows you, it is a life well lived.

That got me thinking again about what an upside down lifestyle Christianity is. It’s the opposite of what the world teaches us. It’s the opposite of what our flesh tell us. It’s the opposite of that you would expect.

The path to eternal life is narrow, as opposed to the broad path to destruction. The first shall be last. The last shall be first. Humble yourself and you will be exalted, but exalt yourself and you will be humbled. Love your enemy, do not hate your enemy.

God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. When man makes a religion, as all others are (Catholicism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Islam, Wicca etc) we see that it focuses on man. They are religions that show our works, our strength, our thoughts. Who could think up such a plan as the Gospel? That our Very God would incarnate into human flesh? Teach, preach, live sinlessly, and die? The Gospel itself is upside down, unexpected, wholly outside of man’s imagination!

Yet, it is true.

And aren’t we glad that God is not a God we can ‘figure out’? He is transcendent. That means He is outside of us, outside of the creation. Wholly other.

Psalm 40:5 says, Many, LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is no one to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.

theology

Praise at work

Posted on October 7, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I was chatting with a lady at work. We both arrive pre-dawn. We looked at the rural night sky and marveled at the creations there; stars, planets, and we talked of how we love hearing the night birds. We praised God with birdsong and cricket chorus as the background music.

Then she inspired me with her talk of how she loves everybody, “No matter how they look or their situation, we’re called to love them, and besides we never know when we night be entertaining an angel…” and we spoke of angels for a bit.

She surely is a wonder. I asked my boss how long this lady has been working there, and she said the woman has been working there 25 years. In my 16 1/2 years at this job I have never, EVER heard her complain once. Nor gossip once. Nor be anything but thankful to have her job.

It is refreshing to speak of Jesus during the day. Don’t wait until just Sunday to praise Him. Don’t restrict your praises to your silent or whispered prayers. We get so busy during the day but in my opinion it is important to stop and chat, praise, rejoice frequently.

I encourage you to:

1.Praise Jesus during the day to yourself and to others. Even a sentence or two, it doesn’t have to be a discourse or a sermon!

2. Think about who inspires you at work and stick to them like glue!! Avoid the troublemakers, gossips, and complainers. Purposely seek out the Christians around you if there are any, and join up for a brief praise. It works to lift your spirit, to alter your perspective.

Spurgeon said Christianity is “a joyful business altogether, for the Savior is glad to save, and the sinner is glad to be saved.”

and-

“Thou canst not tell what showers of mercy, what streams of benediction, what mountains of joy, and hills of happiness, shall be thine when Jesus comes and reigns in thy soul.” ~Charles Spurgeon

heaven, jesus

Your new name!

Posted on October 6, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Here is a prophecy to look forward to!

Believers, if you have been faithful and your persevering walk is evidence of that faith, you will be given a pass into eternal glory upon which the Lord of Hosts, the Ancient of Days, the Holy-Holy-Holy Lord has written upon it Himself, personally for just YOU!

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17)

“But there’s an interesting little historical note, when a victor won in the games, whatever great games were being held, it was not uncommon for the victor to be given as part of his prize a white stone. And the white stone was his admission pass into the festival that was held following the games for all the victors. Could it be that the overcomer will receive the ticket to the eternal victory in heaven?”

Commentary on that verse from John MacArthur:

“And then He says, “And a new name written on the stone,” and I read where they would do that. They would give the victor, like a trophy, a stone with his name and he alone could use it as his pass. “A new name written on the stone which no one knows, but he who receives it.” I can’t tell you how many people have asked me…what is that name?”

“A lady will come to me any time I preach on the book of Revelation and say, “What is the name that no man knows?” Folks, I don’t know what the name is. If I knew what the name was then this verse couldn’t say what it says, it would have to say, “And no one knows except John MacArthur.”

“The only one who knows what it says is the person who receives it, that’s how personal it is. What it is to me is some kind of personal message from Christ to the one He loves which is given as an admission pass into eternal glory. I’ll know mine and you’ll know yours and we’ll know the Lord wrote them for each of us and for none of the others of us.” (source)

It is huge to think of the precious Savior not only saving me, not only guiding and protecting me, not only providing for me, but when He brings me to glory (amazing!) He gives me a personal message just for me, out of the millions thronging there!

Friend, if you have ever been picked last, if you have ever had unwanted divorce thrust upon you, if you have ever been fired from a job, marginalized at home, or left in any feeling invisible and unwanted, THIS should pick you up. A secret message/name is waiting for you, just for you, with the Savior’s love and care personally imprinting it and gracefully extending it to you in heaven. What a day that will be!!!!!!!

theology

Life is beautiful

Posted on October 5, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Life has been getting harder lately no? The wider world, it seems to me, is in flames. Ugliness.

But the smaller sphere of my life is beautiful. Here is what happened just yesterday, from start to finish.

I’m one of the people who get to my part of the school building first. I can park in spot #1. I’m friends with someone who is always first in. We often pause to chat. And the chat usually turns to something about Jesus. Praises, exultations, wisdom (from her!). It’s really refreshing.

I went about my day and heard laughter from children (the best sound!) and collegiality among everyone wherever I went. My school is full of kind staff and wonderful children. I even received a compliment from a colleague.

I got ready to go home. Since I’m first in to my section of the school, my car is parked next the passageway between the two buildings. One of the staff came to me and said he noticed my rear tire was extremely low. The school has some basic car helps like jumper cables and tire-pump up thingie (hey, I’m a a girl, I don’t know what it’s called.) He said he’d pump it up for me. I said thanks for noticing. He said “God did.”

When it was pumped I drove the .05 miles to the Tire Place in town and Tire Guy pumped up the remaining tires for $3.

It was macaron day! The local coffee shop receives baked goods from a small-batch bakery and one of their selections is macarons. They don’t last long, they are highly popular. Since they are made with almond flour, I can eat that snack! I ordered a fancy coffee and 3 macarons for a Friday weekend opener treat. Picked those up and headed home.

When I got home my Kroger delivery was waiting for me at the door. She must have just left. The tire pumping delayed me just a few minutes. The order was correct. Bonus!

I opened my computer and there was a Jacquie Lawson e-card from a friend in Texas. Lawson ecards are animated with classical background music. It begins with a blank canvas and it as if we see the artist paint the picture in front of your eyes. The moose walks out from the fotest, the water under its hooves ripples. Leaves fall. At the end, the light turned on in the cabin, revealing a family. The sunset deepens. Like that. The sender’s message appears at the end after the animation completes. Here is a still shot of the finished scene:

Here is what she wrote:

While watching each stroke of the artist’s brush lay down his creation of autumn beauty, my thoughts were, so as our Father God laid the foundations of His creation, each word He spoke were as brush strokes upon His canvas to bring into existence this beautiful earth!

And though in decline, its majestic beauty continues to testify that our God is the I AM WHO I AM, the merciful and gracious Saviour-God who will speak into existence a new earth whose everlasting beauty
will reflect the beauty of our thrice Holy God!

Her Godly sentiment refreshed me after a good, but tiring day. How thoughtful! I keep her e-cards and go back to them from time to time. I love them.

After checking my email and viewing the e-card, I went to Facebook and see that the mid-century table I’ve been trying to sell for 3 months on Facebook Marketplace has a buyer, and she is one of the staff at school! She will pay me on Monday! How convenient! I had worried about strangers coming to see the table. I really didn’t want a stranger to come inside my house. I was nervous about how the sale was going to work for me as far as safety and also financially, with all the warnings about Facebook money scams out there.

Every single thing I listed above was a providence of God. The kind staff with whom I work, many of whom know and love Jesus; the providential spotting of the low tire; the close location of the tire place; the inexpensive snack I love popping up just in time for a Friday treat; grocery delivery (something as I age, I am appreciating more and more); the beautiful e-card, the $ale of the table just when I need the money, and it’s a female staff member, so I’m safe when I open the door to a friend not a stranger.

The Lord looked after me on Friday in all those visible ways. He looked after me in all the invisible ways too, ways I don’t even know about. And that was just one day out of 365. His mercies are expansive. His love is boundless. Everything had worked out for me and was a delight to my soul.

And even if the day had gone ‘wrong’ or negative occurrences happened in ways that didn’t delight me, I am reminded that the Lord still providentially takes care of us in every way. He is still good and everything He does is for my good.

But I was grateful that yesterday was a day where He chose to show me His providences in ways that eased my day from start to finish.

Psalm 121, A Song of Ascents.

1I will raise my eyes to the mountains;
From where will my help come?
2My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
3He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who watches over you will not slumber.
4Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.

5The LORD is your protector;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
6The sun will not beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time and forever.

end time, signs

If you think Hurricane Helene was bad…

Posted on October 4, 2024 by elizabethprata

Elizabeth Prata

On the Mount of Olives, Jesus sat with his disciples and answered their questions about the end of the age and the signs of His second coming. He answered in specific detail in Matthew 24 and 25, also Mark 13 and Luke 21. It is the longest answer He gave to any question the disciples asked.

The verses in Mt 24:3-6 read: “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.“

These signs are warnings to allow the Spirit to give birth to the faith within. A parallel reference to Matthew 24:6 is given as Romans 10:17: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

He speaks through His word (the Bible) and He shows himself through the creation.

I am reminded of Paul’s warning in Romans 1:18, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness,”

They suppress the truth. What is that truth? That truth is that God exists, He created everything, thus, He is Authority over the earth and its inhabitants, and as the Authority and Creator, He will judge our lives. The other truth is, that we are ALL sinners due wrath from God. They suppress that!

When I saw the devastation in TN, North Carolina, and southern Georgia, it shocked me. Whole towns wiped away. Cities like Asheville and Augusta, extremely damaged. You’ve seen the pictures and video. Shocking and heartbreaking.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Matthew 3:7)

There is wrath to come.

Jesus said in His Olivet Discourse as to the end of the end of days, it will be the worst time on earth there ever was or ever will be. Famine, earthquakes. Never mind towns, whole islands will flee away. Hawaii- gone. Malta, gone, Elba, gone England, gone. Floods, tsunamis, volcanoes. It will be like the North Carolina floods happening but also everywhere else all the disasters are happening too! At once, and/or in rapid succession. Just as one devastation happens, another occurs.

The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36)

In fact, the purpose not only is to demonstrate God’s wrath for sin and to punish Israel, but to UNcreate the earth before God restores it to its near-pre-Eden condition and then remake it totally. The recent hurricane was monstrous in size and its path of devastation was horrendous. The Tribulation will be worse.

Please listen to what Jesus is telling us in His word. He loves the world. He wants your sins to be forgiven so He may embrace you as friend on Judgment Day (1 Timothy 2:4), and not cast you alive into the Lake of Fire as an enemy. The difference between friend of God and enemy of God is a personal recognition of our own sins, and repenting and asking Jesus to forgive them. He is already the Lord of your life- this life AND the next one. Repenting makes Him your Savior. Saving from what? The wrath.

You do NOT want to be here during the coming Tribulation. Repent while it is still day. Before you are hardened in your sin, before you draw your last breath. Jesus forgives and He saves!

theology

Culture of death/culture of life

Posted on October 3, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

There was a woman taking out trash in the early pre-dawn who was hit by an illegal alien. His car knocked out of her socks and her body was a hundred feet from her trash can. The DA decided not to press charges.

We read stories like this all the time these days. I’ve mentioned several times recently that we are living in a culture of death. That culture will climax in the moment when all the world rejoices that the Two Witnesses of the Tribulation are killed and lay putrefying in the street. They celebrate their deaths by giving gifts. As opposed to Christmas when we celebrate the life of Jesus birthed on earth in the flesh to live among us.

The dignity of life is nothing these days. The fact that humans are made in the image of God means nothing to an increasing amount of people.

We have become inured to death. There have been over 63Million abortions since it was legalized in 1973. Abortion is death. It kills a human being.

Movies and televisions shows today routinely show death, and as a culture, we are fascinated with seeing death, watching serial killers, true crime, and horror movies. Even TV show title covers and movie posters are literally dark.

I watch the Aussie TV show City Homicide which started in 2007. They begin every episode with this title card:

In today’s real world, there seems to be rare honor in preserving life, caring about life, bringing justice to a life cut short. Oh, I know it exists, but increasingly what we see in the news is that the loss of a human life just doesn’t have the same punch for people. Children raised on vicious and violent video games laugh when someone gets hurt, shot, or killed. They think it’s funny.

But God! We Christians are released from death to live life and live it abundantly! We have life eternal. We among all people know what Life IS, and what death really is. We can and should display the joy that comes with this sure knowledge.

When we are in Christ, we are In the Person who will never die. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind, (John 1:4).

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms on account of My name, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29).

These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. (Matthew 25:46).

You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. (Psalm 16:11)

You have put joy in my heart, More than when their grain and new wine are abundant. (Psalm 4:7).

So therefore let us be joyful, let our faces shine with peace and happiness that we are saved and entered into full life of joy with the savior. In a culture of death, this will stand out to those staggering under weight of sin and specter of death. As death gleefully chokes our culture with its maniacal joy, let true joy of eternal life flow out from us who know the savior.

theology

Four funny scenes in the Bible

Posted on October 2, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

The Bible is a serious document. It is an eternal love letter from God. it is a warning and a promise of judgment for those who rebel. It is amazing in every aspect.

But though it’s a serious document, there are occasional funny scenes in it. After all, it’s about God and His relationship with humankind, and humans are silly, funny, and childlike ridiculous at times.

Some of the scenes that make me smile are the following. See if you chuckle too.

John outruns Peter
The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead, faster than Peter, and came to the tomb first; (John 20:4).

This was a funny meme:

Why is it in the Bible? Speculating on why, we do know that Peter was impulsive. Remember when he blurted out things, he lopped off the ear of the guard in the garden, and he jumped in the water to swim to shore when he saw Jesus? So when Peter heard of Jesus’s resurrection, he took off running. We believe John was the youngest disciple, so his youth perhaps outpaced Peter’s impulsiveness. Or maybe the natural competitiveness between men prior to the Spirit coming was allowed to remain in the Bible. But also remember that John was shown to hesitate at the tomb and Peter went in first, so perhaps spiritual maturity outpaced youth’s hesitancy in that instance.

Rhoda slammed the door in Peter’s face

When he knocked at the door of the gate, a slave woman named Rhoda came to answer. When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They said, “It is his angel.” But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. (Acts 12:13-16).

Imagine the scene- Peter running through the darkened streets, cloak flapping behind, knowing they will hunt for him. Panting, he arrives at John-Mark’s mom’s house and knocks loudly. Finally seeing light and safety when Rhoda opened the door, Peter thought he’d made it inside. But no. Rhoda is so startled (with shock? joy?) she flees into the house to announce Peter is out there, leaving Peter out there! Funny. Funnier is the praying believers argue with Rhoda. She “kept insisting that it was so”, v 15b; meanwhile Peter “continued knocking” v 16. I think it was Sproul (?) who said that it was harder for Peter to get into Mary’s house than it was for him to break out of jail!

And what were they praying for? Peter’s release. When their prayer as answered, they didn’t put two and two together, lol. Silly humans.

Dagon’s ‘flesh wound’

Monty Python Comedy Troupe had a skit where two knights had a sword fight in the forest. One was King Arthur and the other was the Black Knight. The Black Knight was guarding a tiny bridge that the King needed to pass. The Black knight refused. As the King was more skilled than the Black Knight, Arthur lopped off the other knight’s arm. The injured knight said “‘Tis but a flesh wound” and would not let the King pass. As the King reluctantly continued lopping off the remaining limbs, the wounded knight kept insisting he was OK, and even at the end continued screaming epithets toward the victorious King as he went on his way over the bridge.

1Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it into the house of Dagon, and placed it beside Dagon. 3When the Ashdodites got up early the next day, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him back in his place. 4But when they got up early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the torso of Dagon was left. (1 Samuel 5:1-4)

I always think of that when I read about Dagon. The people insisting its but a flesh wound and continuing the fight even after obvious defeat by the King.

Does your god use the toilet? Elijah’s taunts

Elijah was allowed to enter a contest with the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel. In this corner of the ring, Elijah representing Yahweh. In this corner, Prophets of Baal. When Baal did not perform or answer in any way, despite fervent supplications from the false prophets, Elijah taunted them-

Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:27 LSB).

Though the Bible is sometimes graphic, it is not crude for the sake of being crude. But here, we have a sliver of a reference to toilet activity. Ellicott’s Commentary explains, “The mockery of Elijah is apparently even blunter and more scornful in the sense of the original language—… is merely the bitter irony of sheer contempt, calling Baal a god only to heap upon him ideas most ungodlike.”

Our God is high and not like us humans. He does not sleep. He does not neglect his duty and go into retirement. He is always working. He isn’t human with human needs for food or to eliminate waste. He is GOD. He is not like is in any essence or molecule. And that is the sense Elijah was invoking here. But it must have been fun to taunt them this way.

What tickles you in the Bible? Philip’s lateral rapture where he was preaching in one place and whisked to another and still kept preaching? The young man who fell asleep at Paul’s lengthy sermon and fell out the window? The Bible displays God in all His majesty and humans in all our neediness and ridiculousness. The Bible is an honest document!

theology

Is God speaking to you? Part 2

Posted on October 1, 2024 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Is God Speaking to You? part 1

In part 1, I offered a short history of the “God told me” phenomenon (from my personal perspective). I gave some examples of highly platformed Christian celebrities who say they have conversations with God outside of scripture. Some of these ladies claim this constantly; and shockingly, very casually.

In this part let’s look at what hearing the voice of God means, if He is actually speaking outside of the Bible, and finally, how do we rebut the claim using scripture?

Most practitioners of God told me (GTM) would absolutely affirm that He speaks through scripture. But they claim He ALSO speaks individually to proffer advice for daily living, for decision making, or just for comfort, intimacy, or to have a chat.

People claim He does this through the “still small voice” of 1 Kings 19, visions, dreams, appearances, or whispers. Some even claim that it is necessary to be hearing from God outside of scripture in order to have a healthy, thriving intimacy in true faith. Others say that His personal advice is more of “an inner peace” that settled over them when making a decision or entering a crossroads.

As an aside, I’ve never been a fan of the inner peace. Some decisions are scary and actually roil the spirit with turbulence. In addition, the “inner peace” can be wrong- witness Jonah sleeping peacefully as he tried to go in the opposite direction of where God wanted Jonah to go. Some decisions may be costly, or painful for you or others. (Achan comes to mind). Of those decisions you don’t have peace about – but if your conscience is clear – then go ahead. It’s just not true that we have perfect peace all the time if we are interpreting an omen or sign correctly.

One must ask one’s self, “Why do I need to hear from God outside of scripture? What is lacking in my view of God and His word that makes me need to hear more?” Yet God already told us – in His word – that all scripture is sufficient.

All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17. This is the go-to scripture for the GTM rebuttal.

Let’s take the verse bit by bit.

All means in the Greek, all, every part, the whole.
God-breathed, meaning inspired from God. If it is from God, it is perfect.
Beneficial means useful, profitable
What is scripture profitable for? teaching (instruction), reproof (expose discipline), training (training of children, discipline), correction (setting straight),
righteousness– what kind of righteousness? righteousness of which God is the source or author, but practically: a divine righteousness.

What else IS there? Scripture does all that for us! One would have to ask the GTM lady, which part is NOT sufficient for teaching? Which part is NOT beneficial? Which scripture did God make a mistake on and has to subsequently correct, if it isn’t all God-breathed?

So that man may be fully equipped for every good work.” (“entirely outfitted”) is used in the passive voice in 2 Tim 3:17, stressing the end-impact of Scripture on the receptive believer. Indeed the Bible thoroughly fits (“furnishes”) each believer to live in full communion with God” says Strong’s Greek.

Why is the GTM lady needing more than that?

From Jim Osman in God Doesn’t Whisper, about Priscilla Shirer:

She believes subjective revelations through whispers and impressions are an essential way we enjoy an “intimate and interactive” relationship with God. She writes, “I mean, come on, do you really think He loved you enough to die for you, but not enough to talk to you?”[47] Given that she promotes private revelations in her books, it wouldn’t be unfair to say she means something akin to this: “Do you really think God loved you enough to die for you and then just leave you with the Bible?!”

Indeed, people who say they hear from God are not only angering God with their lies, but are dismissing the very Word He breathed into existence for us, preserved for us, nailed to the cross for us, shed blood over, raised up martyrs to get to us, and gifted to us out of His love.

What a slap in the face is direct revelation! What it actually is, is an attitude that God’s word is defective because it doesn’t hold personally tailored instructions for us in how to live our life in Him.

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a worker who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15).

God’s word doesn’t contain instructions for how to an oil change in the car, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t perfect for instructing us in daily living. Scripture does that through principles, and also of course, its direct commands.

By this we read that there is a way to accurately handle truth, and intuit that there is a way to INaccurately handle truth. If we are to believe that people hear directly from God, we cannot test what they heard against scripture. And if this is so, there is no way to tell if someone is inaccurately handling truth.

“Proverbs 8 reminds us that wisdom is possessed by God and utilized and embedded in the depths of the Earth the heights of the mountains, the way things operate and even Transcendent over the dust by which man is Created from. So what does that tell us? That tells us that to make sense of anything in life and to rightly view everything in life you must have the scripture.” ~Abner Chau, ACBC, “The Sufficiency of Scripture, link below.

2 Peter 1:20 states that “no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” Peter explains in the next verse that scripture was given by the Holy Spirit through men. Since Scripture is of divine origin, its meaning is fixed by divine intent. There is one interpretation based on the One author’s intent for us to know.

You can rely on the word of God which is transcendent and certain, or impressions and voices. Garry Friesen said in his book Decision Making and the Will of God, “If the source of one’s knowledge is subjective, then the knowledge will also be subjective—and hence, uncertain.”

Friesen goes on, “For in nonmoral areas, Scripture gives no guidelines for distinguishing the voice of the Spirit from the voice of the self—or any other potential “voice.” And experience offers no reliable means of identification either (which is why the question comes up in the first place). . . . Tremendous frustration has been experienced by sincere Christians who have earnestly but fruitlessly sought to decipher the code of the inward witness.“

For some, wanting to hear the voice of God personally tell them things is out of a sense of earnest obedience, though, going about it wrongly. For many others, however, it is a pride issue, an attempt to elevate themselves above the run-of-the-mill layman in having something special or extra to say. They claim to have an inside track.

However we are all grace-forgiven sinners at the foot of the cross. If you are in Christ, you are on equal ground with everyone else.

“Scripture never commands us to tune into any inner voice“, says John MacArthur. “We’re commanded to study and meditate on Scripture (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1–2). We’re instructed to cultivate wisdom and discernment (Proverbs 4:5–8). We’re told to walk wisely and make the most of our time (Ephesians 5:15–16). We’re ordered to be obedient to God’s commands (Deuteronomy 28:1–2; John 15:14). But we are never encouraged to listen for inner promptings.” ~John MacArthur

“On the contrary, we are warned that our hearts are so deceitful and desperately wicked that we cannot understand them (Jeremiah 17:9). Surely this should make us very reluctant to heed promptings and messages that arise from within ourselves.” ~John MacArthur

Conclusion:

Saying GTM violates the sufficiency of scripture, it takes God’s name in vain, sets up a two-tier system of hearers and non-hearers (a breeding ground for pride and resentment), it trivializes God, and it’s just plain wrong.

Please instead, read the word, pray to the Spirit to illuminate its meaning to you, and ask Jesus to rightly guide you into all righteousness. That is all we need, His word, prayer, and subduing the flesh.

If you want fresh revelation, turn to the scriptures with a fresh prayer coming out of your lips. Scripture never has an expiration date. The Spirit will illuminate the Bible to you.

If you reject the sufficiency of Scripture — or even if you simply look to supplement it with fresh, personal revelation from God — you cut yourself off from the only reliable source of God’s truth. ~John MacArthur

Further Resources

G3 Cessationist Conference Oct 3-5, 2024. More resources there! It is in conjunction with the Cessationist Movie.

Ligonier – Does God Speak to Christians Audibly?

G3- Please Stop Saying ‘God told me’

G3: Beware of lowercase r- revelation

Book – Decision-Making and the Will of God, Garry Friesen, J. Robin Maxson